Gerhard v. Stephens
Supreme Court of California
442 P.2d 692 (1968)
Gerhard (plaintiff) owned mineral rights, severed from the surface estate, in a parcel whose surface owners entered a mineral lease with third-party lessees (defendants) who did not actually drill until shortly before litigation began, despite having used the surface land for over 20 years. Gerhard sued to quiet title; the defendants argued Gerhard had abandoned the mineral rights and that the surface owners had separately acquired the mineral interest through adverse possession based on their prolonged surface use. The trial court agreed with the defendants on both theories, and Gerhard appealed, arguing mineral interests are not the kind of property subject to abandonment.
Whether mineral interests are subject to abandonment, and whether a surface owner's continued possession of the surface, after mineral rights were conveyed separately, establishes adverse possession against the mineral-rights owner.