Reese v. Reese-Young

Citations

• 938 N.W.2d 405
• 2020 ND 35

Syllabus

The law in North Dakota is expressed by various sources, including statutes and common law, and the common law applies when it does not conflict with statutory law. Under the common law open mines doctrine, the owner of a life estate in minerals is entitled to the royalties and other payments under an oil and gas lease when a well was producing under the lease at the time of the creation of the life estate and the instrument creating the life estate did not exclude application of the doctrine.