Indiana Code
Chapter 13. Mineral Estates of Unknown or Missing Owners
32-23-13-6. Action; Requirements; Guardian Ad Litem

Sec. 6. (a) An adjacent mineral producer that brings an action under this chapter must do the following:
(1) Name the following as respondents:
(A) The last owners of record in the chain of title and all reasonably ascertainable heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns of the last owners of record.
(B) If record title to the mineral interest of an unknown or missing owner has been severed of record from ownership of the overlying surface land, the record owner of the overlying surface land. Any person named in this subdivision must be sent notice of the action by certified mail.
(2) File a verified petition with the court that sets forth the following:
(A) A statement that specifies the mineral that the petitioner seeks to develop in the subject land.
(B) The petitioner's request that a trustee be appointed to execute a lease granting the petitioner the right to produce and develop from the subject mineral interest of the unknown or missing owner a mineral of the type produced by the adjacent mineral producer.
(C) The legal description of the mineral interest of the unknown or missing owner.
(D) The interest of the petitioner in the land adjacent to, adjoining the subject land, or within the production unit established by the division of reclamation.
(E) The apparent interest of each respondent in the applicable mineral sought to be produced and developed within the subject land.
(F) A verified statement that informs the court of the actions the petitioner has taken to identify and locate the unknown or missing owner or the owner's heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns.
(b) The Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure govern an action under this chapter to make an unknown or missing person a respondent. Legal service on a respondent who is unknown or missing may be made by publication.
(c) The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any respondent to the proceeding who is:
(1) a ward of the state or a ward to another person; or
(2) less than eighteen (18) years of age and is not represented by a parent.
(d) If it appears to the court that a person who is not in being, but, upon coming into being, is or may be entitled to any interest in the land sought to be leased, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to appear for and represent the interest in the proceeding and to defend the proceeding on behalf of the person not in being. A judgment or order entered by the court in a proceeding under this chapter is effective against the person not in being.
As added by P.L.28-2015, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.127-2022, SEC.33.