After the expiration of seven years from the date of the special commissioner's lease, no action may be brought by any unknown or missing owner or abandoning owner or any heir, successor or assign thereof either to recover any past or future proceeds accrued or to be accrued from the lease herein authorized, or to recover any right, title or interest in and to the mineral interest subject to the lease.

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 55-12A-9

  • Abandoning owner: means any person, vested with title to any interest in minerals, who is proved to have abandoned the interest, that is, to have relinquished any right to possess or enjoy the interest with the expressed intention of terminating ownership of the interest, but without vesting the ownership in any other person. See West Virginia Code 55-12A-2
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Unknown or missing owner: means any person, vested with title to any interest in minerals, whose present identity or location cannot be determined from the records of the clerk of the county commission, the sheriff, the assessor and the clerk of the circuit court in the county in which the interest is located or by diligent inquiry in the vicinity of the owner'. See West Virginia Code 55-12A-2