§ 15-73-302 - Petition to lease by life tenant -- Contents.
15-73-302. Petition to lease by life tenant -- Contents.
Whenever any life tenant shall desire to lease any land for the production of oil and gas, he or she shall file a verified petition with the circuit court of the county in which the lands or the greater part thereof may be situated, praying for authority to execute the lease. The person shall make as parties respondent to the petition all persons then in being who under the terms of the will or grant would become invested with title to the lands or any interest therein should the death of the life tenant occur on the date of the filing of the petition. The petition shall set out:
(1) The description of the land;
(2) From whom he or she acquired his or her title, with an attached, certified copy of the will or deed under which he or she claims;
(3) The name of the proposed lessee, the true consideration for the lease, and a general statement as to the provisions of the proposed lease; and
(4) A prayer for authority to execute the lease, and for the court to award the life tenant with title absolute in such proportion of the oil, gas, and other minerals, in, on, and under the lands, not exceeding a one-sixteenth (1/16) interest, together with the proportion of the consideration and delay rentals, as the court shall determine is fair compensation to the life tenant as damages to the life estate by the use of the surface of the lands in the exploration for and the development of oil and gas therefrom, and the petition shall further pray for the appointment of a trustee to receive and hold the moneys, rents, and royalties as shall accrue to the contingent remainder estate under the lease.