Opinion ID: 2119729
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the statutory trust.

Text: KRS 381.430 reads as follows: Possession of minerals and other interests in landEffect on possession of surface.Wherever the mineral or other interests in or rights appurtenant to land in this state have passed, or shall hereafter pass, in any way, from a claimant in possession of the surface of the land, the continuity of the possession of such mineral, interests and rights shall not be deemed thereby to have been broken; but the possession of the surface by the original claimant thereof, from whom such mineral, interests or rights passed, or by those claiming through or under him, or by virtue of a judgment against him in an action to which the holder of the mineral, interests or rights is not a party, shall be deemed to be for the benefit of the person, his heirs and assigns, to whom the mineral, interests or rights have passed. The statute was first enacted in 1906 as KS 2366a-1. 1906 Ky.Acts ch. 7 § 1. The language of the statute has undergone some minor amendments in the intervening ninety-four years, none of which are material to the issues in this case. In Farnsworth v. Barret, 146 Ky. 556, 142 S.W. 1049 (1912), the statute was held to preclude a claim of adverse possession of the mineral estate by the successor in title to the grantor/owner of the surface estate, because the language of the statute was merely declaratory of the common law . . . that possession of the surface does not give possession of the mining rights which had been sold, but, on the contrary, presumes that the holder of the surface was only a trustee, and held possession for the benefit of the owner of the mineral. Id., 142 S.W. at 1052. (See Herrel v. Porter, 8 Ky.Op. 265 (1874) for pre-existing common law.) As a result, mere possession of the surface estate cannot constitute adverse possession of the mineral estate. Consol posits that the language extending the scope of KRS 381.430 to other interests in . . . land includes the easement-granting power conveyed by the Northern form deeds and precludes TCO from holding the pipeline easement adversely to Consol's easement-granting interest. However, the case of George T. Stagg Co. v. Frankfort Modes Glass Works, 175 Ky. 330, 194 S.W. 333 (1917) holds precisely to the contrary. Neither do we think that the provisions of section 2366a of the Kentucky statutes (act of 1906), nor the opinion of this court in the case of Farnsworth v. Barret, 146 Ky. 556, 142 S.W. 1049, applying that statute, in any manner affect the questions presented by this record. That statute has reference only to mineral rights which are natural formations, and has nothing to do with artificial, subterranean easements, such as pipes for the conducting of water, gas, or other like purposes. Id., 194 S.W. at 337. The artificial trust created by the statute is necessitated by the fact that the owner of a mineral estate has no protectible interest in the surface, thus takes no notice of conditions of the surface and has no standing to affect them. H. Williams and C. Meyers, Oil and Gas Law, Vol. 1, Adverse Possession and Trespass § 224.1, at 350.2 (M. Bender 1959 & Supp.1998). But since the easement-granting power is an interest in the surface estate, Consol had the power to oust TCO from its claimed easement before the expiration of the period of limitations, Elk Horn Coal Corp. v. Kentucky-West Virginia Gas Co., supra , thus did not need the protection of an artificial trust. Regardless, the statute clearly applies only to the grantor of the mineral rights or those claiming through or under him. TCO is not claiming through or under the 1948 owners of the surface estates. All agree that the 1948 attempted grants of easement were nullities, because the purported grantors had no easement-granting power. Rather, TCO is relying on its own prescriptive possession of the pipeline right-of-way for more than the statutory period of fifteen years. In that respect, TCO can rely on the void easements as color of title even though the surface owners had no authority to grant the easements and TCO could have ascertained that fact by a proper search of the surface owners' chains of title. McDaniel v. Ramsey's Adm'rs, 305 Ky. 536, 204 S.W.2d 953 (1947); Shively v. Elkhorn Coal Corp., 217 Ky. 192, 289 S.W. 262 (1926); Shutt v. Methodist Episcopal Church, 187 Ky. 350, 218 S.W. 1020 (1920). Having concluded that TCO's claim is not precluded by the provisions of KRS 381.430, we reverse the judgment of the Floyd Circuit Court and the decision of the Court of Appeals and remand this case to the Floyd Circuit Court with directions to address the merits of TCO's prescriptive easement claim and to enter judgment accordingly. GRAVES, JOHNSTONE, KELLER, STUMBO, JJ., concur. WINTERSHEIMER, J., dissents by separate opinion, with LAMBERT, C.J., joining that dissent.