57-230 Mineral interests; severed; abandoned; judgment.
57-230. Mineral interests; severed; abandoned; judgment.If the court shall find that the severed mineral interest has been abandoned, it shall enter judgment terminating and extinguishing it, canceling it of record, and vesting the title thereto in the owner or owners of the interest in the surface from which it was originally severed in the proportions in which they own such interest in the surface. SourceLaws 1967, c. 348, § 3, p. 926. AnnotationsSections 57-228 to 57-231 which declared that mineral rights were abandoned unless the record owner had exercised ownership rights within twenty-three years immediately prior to the filing of an action to cancel the severed mineral interest, are unconstitutional insofar as the statutory provisions could be interpreted to be retroactive in their operation. Monahan Cattle Co. v. Goodwin, 201 Neb. 845, 272 N.W.2d 774 (1978); Wheelock & Manning 00 Ranches, Inc. v. Heath, 201 Neb. 835, 272 N.W.2d 768 (1978).