On September 3, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio accepted the appeal of the Seventh District decision in Walker v. Shondrick-Nau (fka Walker v. Noon). We have previously covered this case. The Supreme Court will consider several issues concerning the 1989 version of the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act including:
(1) whether the 2006 version of the DMA is the only version of the DMA applicable after June 30, 2006;
(2) whether the surface owner must have taken some action to establish abandonment of a severed mineral interest under the 1989 version of the DMA;
(3) the applicable twenty-year look-back period under the 1989 DMA and
(4) the relationship between the DMA and Ohio's Marketable Title Act.
We will keep you posted as this case develops.