{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-16-16-76","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 16, § 16-76","heading":"Exceptions to application of act - Stray instruments - Root","body":"of title - Severed mineral interests.\n\nA. Sections 71 through 80 of this title shall not be applied to\n\nbar any lessor or his successor as a reversioner of his right to\n\npossession on the expiration of any lease; or to bar or extinguish\n\nany mineral or royalty interest which has been severed from the fee\n\nsimple title of the land; or to bar or extinguish any easement or\n\ninterest in the nature of an easement, or any rights granted,\n\nreserved or excepted by any instrument creating such easement or\n\ninterest; or use restrictions or area agreements which are part of a\n\nplan for subdivision development or to bar any right, title or\n\ninterest of the United States by reason of failure to file the\n\nnotice herein required.\n\nB. As used in this section, \"stray instrument\" means an\n\ninstrument executed by a person or entity, or a decree of\n\ndistribution entered in the estate of a decedent, who or which does\n\nnot otherwise appear in the chain of record title to a tract of real\n\nproperty. A stray instrument shall not create a root of title\n\npursuant to Sections 71 through 80 of this title if the following\n\nconditions exist:\n\n1. There is apparent from the record an otherwise valid,\n\nuninterrupted chain of record title traceable to an instrument which\n\nis a root of title as defined by Sections 71 through 80 of this\n\ntitle; and\n\n2. A current owner of the property under the chain of title\n\nreferred to in paragraph 1 of this subsection records an affidavit\n\nthat alleges that the current owner or owners are in possession of\n\nthe property and that the parties claiming under the stray\n\ninstrument own no interest in the property. If there are multiple\n\nowners, any one or more of the owners may execute the affidavit on\n\nbehalf of all owners.\n\nC. An instrument executed by a person or entity, or a decree of\n\ndistribution entered in the estate of a decedent who or which does\n\nnot otherwise appear in the chain of record title to a tract of real\n\nproperty, except as an owner of a severed mineral interest therein,\n\nshall not create a root of title pursuant to Sections 71 through 80\n\nof this title.\n\nD. As used in this section \"severed mineral interest\" includes\n\nmineral leasehold interests or working interests, mineral royalty\n\ninterests and overriding royalty interests, and ownership of\n\nminerals without any ownership interest in the surface estate other\n\nthan the rights of ingress and egress and for use of the surface for\n\nmineral development and exploration.\n\nE. This section shall not apply to the interest of any person\n\nor entity who or which claims a valid interest under any such stray\n\ninstrument as defined herein and who shall, no later than November\n\n1, 1996, file with the county clerk of the county where the land or\n\ninterest is located, a notice of such claim, setting forth the basis\n\nthereof, and specifically referring to this section.","path":["OK Code","Title 16"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os16.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"4cb990938a3788445a605f61ffdfd3d491a73f701fc1f0295aa4fbfef3c60b82","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-16-16-75","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-16-16-77"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}