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FOR PUBLICATION

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANTS: L. MATTHEW NIXON Fair, Nixon & Nixon Princeton, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES: VERNER P. PARTENHEIMER Hall, Partenheimer & Kinkle Princeton, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
STEVE MILLER AND LINDA MILLER, Husband and Wife, and CHARLES MILLER AND BARBARA MILLER, Husband and Wife, and CHARLES AND BARBARA MILLER, TRUSTEES OF THE CHARLES HARDY AND BARBARA MILLER FAMILY TRUST, and HOWARD CREASEY AND PATSY CREASEY, Husband and Wife, Appellants, vs. BECKY R. WEBER a/k/a BECKY R. CORN a/k/a BECKY R. BATES and W. W. RENTALS, INC., Appellees. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 26A05-0507-CV-387

APPEAL FROM THE GIBSON SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Earl G. Penrod, Judge Cause No. 26D01-0303-PL-12

December 16, 2005 OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION

NAJAM, Judge

STATEMENT OF THE CASE Steve Miller; Linda Miller; Charles Miller; Barbara Miller; Charles Miller and Barbara Miller, Trustees of the Charles Hardy and Barbara Miller Family Trusts; Howard Creasey; and Patsy Creasey (collectively "the Millers") appeal from the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Becky R. Weber, a/k/a Becky R. Corn, a/k/a Becky R. Bates, and W.W. Rentals, Inc. (collectively "Weber"), in the Millers' quiet title and slander of title action against Weber. The Millers raise three issues for review, which we consolidate and restate as: 1. Whether Weber's interest in minerals underlying the Millers' properties has lapsed under the Indiana Dormant Mineral Act. Whether Weber's deed conveying her interest in minerals underlying the Millers' properties was a slander of title.

2.

We reverse and remand. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In 1971, Irene Bates Laros owned 100 acres in Gibson County and executed a coal lease in favor of Consolidation Coal Company. From 1971 through 1989, the coal company annually paid advance royalties to Laros, and Laros paid federal and state capital gains taxes on those royalties. In April 1974, Laros conveyed ninety-nine acres to Howard and Patsy Creasey ("the Creaseys") but reserved an interest in the coal underlying the property (the "coal reservation"). The Creaseys and their successors, to whom the Creaseys conveyed part of the ninety-nine acres at issue, are surface owners. No coal was produced from the mineral interest during the relevant period. Consolidation's assignee terminated an amended lease with Laros in October 1990. In
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1992, Laros conveyed the coal reservation to her daughter, Becky R. Corn, a/k/a Becky R. Weber, a/k/a Becky R. Bates ("Weber"). In 2002, Weber quitclaimed the mineral interest to W.W. Rentals, Inc. The Millers, believing that the mineral interest had

reverted to them in 1994, have attempted to lease the mineral interest for mining, but the potential lessee has refused to execute a lease until the parties resolve the competing claims of ownership. The Millers filed an amended complaint to quiet title to the mineral interest underlying their respective properties and alleged a slander of title. Weber filed a motion for summary judgment, and the Millers also filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court entered special findings and an order, which granted summary judgment on the amended complaint to Weber. The court held that "[t]he payment of income taxes and/or capital gains taxes on advance royalties received constituted a use under I.C. 32-23-103(a)(6)" and that "[t]he 20[-]year dormancy period of the Dormant Mineral Act did not commence to run until Irene Bates Laros or her successors ceased paying taxes attributable to the royalty payments in 1989." Appellant's App. at 11-12. As a result, the trial court concluded that Laros' interest had not lapsed or reverted to the Millers. The Millers appeal. DISCUSSION AND DECISION Standard of Review When reviewing summary judgment, this court views the same matters and issues that were before the trial court and follows the same process. Estate of Taylor ex rel. Taylor v. Muncie Med. Investors, L.P., 727 N.E.2d 466, 469 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000), trans.
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denied. We construe all facts and reasonable inferences to be drawn from those facts in favor of the non-moving party. Jesse v. Am. Cmty. Mut. Ins. Co., 725 N.E.2d 420, 423 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000), trans. denied. Summary judgment is appropriate when the

designated evidence demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ind. Trial Rule 56(C). The purpose of summary judgment is to terminate litigation about which there can be no material factual dispute and which can be resolved as a matter of law. Zawistoski v. Gene B. Glick Co., 727 N.E.2d 790, 792 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000). Issue One: The Indiana Dormant Mineral Act The Millers contend that Weber's mineral interest lapsed under the Indiana Dormant Mineral Act ("Act"), Indiana Code Sections 32-23-10-1 to -8, and reverted to them in 1994. The Act provides that an interest in coal, "if unused for a period of twenty (20) years, is extinguished and the ownership reverts to the owner of the interest out of which the interest in coal, oil and gas, and other minerals was carved." Ind. Code

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