                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

 PETITION TO ESTABLISH A TRUST FOR MISSING COAL OWNERS (§ 45.2-602)

A. Any coal owner or lessee who (i) has more than a 50 percent interest in the
coal on a particular tract and (ii) seeks to impress a trust upon unknown or
missing owners of such tract of coal may petition the circuit court in the
county or city containing the majority of the tract of coal to establish a trust
to protect the interests of all coal owners and lessees.

B. The petition shall:

   1. Describe the particular tract of coal at issue;

   2. List all known, missing, and unknown owners of interests in such tract of
   coal and set forth the efforts to locate and identify the missing or unknown
   owners of the interests and provide any other information known to the
   petitioner that could be helpful in identifying or locating every present
   owner thereof; and

   3. Include the proposed terms of a lease to be offered to the trust. Such
   lease shall be typical of other arm&#8217;s-length leases in the area.

C. The petitioner shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that a
diligent effort has been made to identify and locate the present owners of such
interests.

HISTORY: 2003, c. 775, § 45.1-161.311:3; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.