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<br />containing the reservation as required in Ferrell, supra, the <br />inherent difficulty of determining whether or no[ sand and gravel <br />is included in such a straight mineral reservation becomes <br />obvious. Unless the intent of the parties at the time of creat- <br />ing the mineral reservation is clear, unambiguous and unequivo- <br />cal, the difficulties and danger of ascertaining the intent of <br />the parties becomes monumental. <br />In the instant case, the 1989 deed from Plaintiff to <br />Fedrick-Witt is a little easier since the parties are presumably <br />still around. In the case of Plaintiff/Intervenors, dealing with <br />documents and reservations created 30, 40 and 50 years ago, [he <br />intent of the parties at that time becomes extremely difficult to <br />ascertain, and in itself becomes a kind of secret, springing, <br />inchoate interest that only comes into play depending upon <br />subsequent purchasers, personalities and money. How does a <br />subsequent purchaser of the surface rights protect themselves <br />from this? For example, in this case Mr. Shaw now believes his <br />grandparents meant to reserve sand and gravel as part of the <br />straight mineral reservation in the original warranty deed. <br />The Defendant in this case is himself an oil, gas and <br />mineral attorney with several years experience. Defendant <br />received the title insurance commitment with all the reservation <br />language, and did not believe the reservation language included <br />sand and gravel. Nothing in the documents reviewed by the Court <br />indicate any information to the contrary and no document reviewed <br />by the Court evidences intent of any of the patties to reserve <br />sand and gravel. When a purchaser, such as the Defendant in this <br />case, relies upon the record title which discloses no apparent <br />reservation of sand and gravel, the Court finds that the intent <br />of the parties to include sand and gravel within a straight <br />mineral reservation must be clear, unambiguous and unequivocal. <br />To rule otherwise defeats the purpose of the Colorado recording <br />statute and only promotes lawsuits. While the Court needs to <br />accommodate [he particular and varied interests of the different <br />estate holders, the language creating those separate and distinct <br />estates, and what is or is not included within each estate, <br />should be sufficiently clear so that subsequent interest holders, <br />and the courts, are not reduced to guess work as to the nature <br />and extent of any particular estate. If nothing else, the law <br />should at leas[ be trustworthy, predictable and have a degree of <br />constancy so that parties are not reduced to litigation to <br />determine every question and for parties to be able to rely upon <br />the Colorado recording statute and the status of title to deter- <br />mine their respective rights, responsibilities and obligations. <br />In this case, the Court finds that the language con- <br />tained in the mineral reservations is not clear, is ambiguous and <br />provides no notice to a subsequent purchaser that sand and gravel <br />was included in [he mineral reservation and has been severed from <br />the surface estate. As discussed earlier, while it appears <br />14 <br />