Coal leases held real property
Coal leases, which granted an exclusive, 20-year right to mine and dispose of coal, and provided for 20-year renewal options, held community real property so that any lease conveyance was void unless joined in by both spouses. In Padilla vs Roller (94 NM 234, 608 P.2d 1116 (1980), the court confronted the question of whether the transfers of a coal lease were void for the failure of the conveyor's wife to sign the transfer document. In a terse opinion written by Justice Federici, the New Mexico Supreme Court analogized the Padilla case to earlier cases involving other mineral leases. The court pointed out that oil, gas, and mineral leases had been held to be real property. The case of Terry vs Humphreys (1922) established that an oil or gas lease extending over a period of more than five years represents real property of the community and, consequently, requires the joinder of both spouses for its valid conveyance. The Padilla decision, in light of relevant case law, represents a consistent extension of the Humphreys rule. The terms of the leases involved in Padilla were similar to the terms of the leases construed in earlier cases. The fact that coal, rather than oil or gas, was at issue afforded no reason for barring the appliation of the rule. The Padilla decision, then, is a reasonable extension of well-established law into an increasingly significant area of resource development.
- OSTI ID:
- 6202470
- Journal Information:
- Nat. Resour. J.; (United States), Vol. 21:2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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