WTJ Skavdahl Land v. Elliott, 830 N.W.2d 488

Skavdahl Land LLC sues owners of severed mineral interests to reacquire allegedly abandoned interests under Nebraska's dormant mineral statutes.
Record owner for purposes of §57-229 may be determined from more than the county register of deeds, including public records; the issue is whether probate/public records can identify the record owner.
Sandra Elliott, personal representative of Evelyn Elliott's estate, died in 1999; Evelyn's probate records had not listed mineral interests.
The register of deeds listed Evelyn as owner; Evelyn's will devised property to cotrustees of the S&G Living Trust, of which Sandra was the last surviving trustee.
The district court held Evelyn was the record owner and that Sandra, as trustee, did not publicly exercise ownership; it concluded ownership transferred by operation of law, not by Evelyn’s action.
On appeal, the key question is whether the record owner under §57-229 includes individuals identified by probate records in the county where the interests are located.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the record owner includes probate records.	Skavdahl argues record owner includes probate records identifying owners.	Elliott argues record owner is the person listed in the register of deeds.	Yes; the record owner includes probate records identifying the owner.

Gibbs Cattle Co. v. Bixler, Ante p. 952, N.W.2d (2013) (Nebraska 2013) (defines record owner scope for dormant minerals governing)