If a meteor hits your house is it yours?

[Monty Burns]

Interestingly enough there is argument although admitedly the house in question is a rental

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/03/meteorite-worth-thousands-stirs-ownership-debate/?test=latestnews

 

[james_w]

this seems to explain who the rightful owner would be

"The U.S. courts have ruled that a meteorite becomes part of the land where it arrives through 'natural cause' and hence the property of the landowner," the e-mail said.

Meteorites have been the subject of legal disputes before. In the early 1900s, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled a 15-ton meteorite belonged to the landowner on whose property it likely landed, not the person who found it.

So it's the landowner who has the rightful claim to the rock as far as the laws concerned...

 

[ianvestor]

James, did you read to the bottom of the article?

Virginia law differs and favors the tenant.

 

[Monty Burns]

reading the article the rock hit where the guy normally sits.

If the the insurance company pays for repairs could they then
claim that the meteor is now theirs?

 

[Dazz]

If the insurance company pays for repairs

....if, being the operative word.

 

[WinstonWolfe]

what about if oil bubbles up from underneath your house......
does the property owner own the oil?
what about if you dig a hole 100 metres under your house and find gold. Do you own it?
am I allowed to dig a hole 100 metres on my own property, say 200 acres, without a mining lease?

 

[james_w]

what about if oil bubbles up from underneath your house......
does the property owner own the oil?
what about if you dig a hole 100 metres under your house and find gold. Do you own it?
am I allowed to dig a hole 100 metres on my own property, say 200 acres, without a mining lease?

it's abit of a grey area I believe

 

[james_w]

James, did you read to the bottom of the article?

oops missed that part it's not my property so I have little interest reading the fine print

 

[ianvestor]

what about if oil bubbles up from underneath your house......
does the property owner own the oil?
what about if you dig a hole 100 metres under your house and find gold. Do you own it?
am I allowed to dig a hole 100 metres on my own property, say 200 acres, without a mining lease?

I thought when you buy land, you don't own anything lower than a couple of metres or so below the ground; After that being government property where things like pipes and cables go. Similiarly for the sky above your land.