OIL AND GAS LAW
JonathanA. Hunter*
I. STATE LAW QUESTIONS A. Louisiana
Mineral Servitudes
The dispute in Lyons v. Fisher' had its genesis in the 1968 donation of immovable property by a mother to her son and daughter in indivision. In the act of donation, the mother reserved a mineral servitude over the property donated. The next day, the son and daughter "sold" the usufruct of this property to their mother for ten dollars and "other good and valuable consideration and services rendered." In 1972, the daughter conveyed her inter- est in the property to her brother, at the same time reserving a mineral servitude. Three years later, in 1975, the mother died in- testate, survived only by the son and daughter, who thus inherited her estate in indivision. In 1985, a dispute arose between the son and the heirs of the daughter as to the ownership of the mineral rights pertaining to the property.
Plaintiffs, the heirs of the daughter, contended that the 1968 donation and reciprocal sale of the usufruct were invalid as being in violation of former Louisiana Civil Code article 1533. Prior to 1974, article 1533 provided: "The donor is permitted to dispose, for the advantage of any other person, of the enjoyment or usufruct of the immovable property given, but cannot reserve it for himself."'3 Accordingly, argued the plaintiffs, the mother retained full owner- ship of the property until her death in 1975, at which point the two children inherited her interest. Also at this point, argued the plain-