{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-353.466","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 353.466","heading":"Persons to be joined as defendants -- Verified petition showing effort to","body":"locate owners -- Advertisement and lis pendens notice, contents -- Trustee ad\nlitem.\n(1) The person seeking to impress a trust upon a severed mineral interest for the\npurpose of  leasing and developing same shall join as defendants to the action all\nthose persons having record title thereto who are unknown or missing and the\nunknown heirs, successors and assigns of all such persons. The persons named as\ndefendants and who are the unknown or missing owners as defined herein, shall\nstand for and represent the full title and the whole interest of the unknown or\nmissing owners in the severed mineral interest or estate or interest therein.  All\nparties not in being who might have some c ontingent or future interest therein, and\nall persons whether in being or not in being, having any interest, present, future or\ncontingent, in the severed mineral interests sought to be leased, shall be fully bound\nby the proceedings hereunder.\n(2) There shall be filed a verified petition specifically setting forth the efforts to locate\nand identify the unknown or missing owners of the interests to be leased and such\nother information known to the petitioner which might be helpful in identifying or\nlocating the present owners thereof.  There shall be attached to the petition as an\nexhibit thereto a certified copy of the instrument creating the original severance and\nsuch additional instruments as are necessary to show the vesting of title to the\nminerals in  the last record owner thereof.  The petitioner shall establish to the\nsatisfaction of the court that a diligent effort has been made to identify and locate\nthe present owners of said interests.\n(3) Service of process shall be as provided by the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure\nand there shall be filed a lis pendens notice in the county clerk's office of the county\nwherein the mineral estate or the larger portion thereof lies.  Immediately upon the\nfiling of the petition, the petitioner shall advertise as  provided in KRS Chapter 424.\nBoth the advertisement and the lis pendens notice shall contain the names of all of\nthe parties and their last known addresses, the date and recording data of the\noriginal deed or other conveyance which created the mineral severance, an adequate\ndescription of the land as contained therein, the source of title of the last known\nowners of the severed mineral interests and a statement that the action is brought for\nthe purpose of impressing a trust authorizing the execution and delivery of a valid\nand present mineral lease for development of the particular minerals described in\nthe petition.  The court, in its discretion, may order advertisement elsewhere or by\nadditional means if there is reason to believe that additional advert isement might\nresult in identifying and locating the unknown or missing owners.\n(4) The court shall appoint a trustee ad litem, who shall be a licensed, practicing\nattorney, to represent the unknown or missing owners and their unknown heirs,\nsuccessors and assigns.  The trustee ad litem shall review the petition and file an\nanswer and such other pleadings as are necessary and proper to represent fairly the\ninterest of the unknown or missing owners.  It shall be the duty of the trustee ad\nlitem to make an i ndependent inquiry and search for the purpose of identifying and\nlocating the unknown or missing owners and he shall report to the court the results\nof the investigation.  The court shall allow the trustee ad litem a reasonable fee for\nhis services to be taxed as costs.","path":["KRS Chapter 353"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=33098","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:39Z","sha256":"f19c2afc6292007a8395fe2564df679748e6a4a88c7201fa404f8208afbba669","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-353.464","next":"us-ky/krs-353.468"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}