Body v. McDonald
Supreme Court of Wyoming
334 P.2d 513 (1959)
The Edwardses conveyed land to the McDonalds (defendants) while reserving a one-fourth mineral interest for themselves. Two weeks later, the McDonalds conveyed the same land to the Bodys (plaintiffs) using an almost identical one-fourth mineral reservation. The Bodys sued to quiet title to three-fourths of the minerals, arguing the McDonalds retained no separate mineral interest of their own; the McDonalds argued they had kept a one-fourth interest in addition to the Edwardses' reserved one-fourth. The trial court ruled for the Bodys, and the McDonalds appealed.
Whether a grantor who receives land subject to a mineral exception, then reconveys the land using nearly identical mineral-exception language, thereby conveys exactly what it originally received under that exception, retaining nothing more for itself.