Free calculator
When will my small royalty balance be paid?
The balance on your statement or in the payor's letter.
A rough figure is fine. Use 0 if nothing new is coming in.
Leave it blank if you do not know it.
A worked example. Put in your own numbers.
Yearly payment, estimated
Nov 15, 2026
$40.00 is between $10 and $100. The payor may pay it once a year, for up to 12 months saved up.
We count a year from your last payment on Nov 15, 2025. It is an estimate, not a due date.
About a year after the last one.
- Under $10: may be held
- $10 to $100: once a year (yours)
- Over $100: the usual deadlines
- Held for you now
- $40.00
- Added each monthYour estimate
- $8.00
- Months until it reaches $100($100 − $40.00) ÷ $8.00, rounded up. Arithmetic, not a payment date.
- 8 months
- Last payment
- Nov 15, 2025
- A year after the last paymentAn estimate, not a due date
- Nov 15, 2026
- The rule that fits$10 to $100: once a year
- Once a year
The rule, word for word
“Payment may be remitted to a payee annually for the aggregate of up to 12 months' accumulation of proceeds if the payor owes the payee a total amount of $100 or less; the payor may hold accumulated proceeds of less than $10 until production ceases or the payor's responsibility for making payment for production ceases.”
Next step
Want to know the balance is right, too?
Upload a royalty statement and we check each month against the Railroad Commission record, including months that were held or never paid.
After that, the Owner plan ($149 a year) re-checks every month when new state data lands and alerts you about your leases.
The rule in brief
Section 91.402(f) of the Texas Natural Resources Code lets a payor, usually the operator or the company that buys the oil, save up small amounts instead of sending a check every month. It has two lines: $100 and $10.
- $100 or less in total: it may pay once a year, for up to 12 months saved up. Exactly $100 is still in this group.
- Less than $10: it may hold the money until production stops, or until it no longer has to pay you.
- More than $100: the small-balance rule no longer applies, and the usual deadlines do.
The word in the statute is “may”. A payor is allowed to wait, not required to. Many pay small amounts every month anyway.
How we work it out
The formula
- Which rule
- under $10: may hold · $10 to $100: once a year · over $100: usual deadlines
- Months to $100
- ($100 − held now) ÷ added each month, rounded up
- Yearly payment
- last payment + 12 months (a 31st becomes the month's last day)
The months to $100 are arithmetic, not a payment date. The yearly date is an estimate from your last payment, not a due date.
A worked example
A payor holds $40.00 for you, about $8.00 is added each month, and it last paid you on November 15, 2025. The balance is between $10 and $100, so the yearly rule fits. A year after the last payment is November 15, 2026. At $8.00 a month the balance passes $100 in about 8 months, but that is when the total crosses the line, not a day anyone has to pay.
When to ask
If a year has gone by since your last payment and the balance is still $100 or less, write to the payor’s owner relations address and ask when it will pay the balance it holds for you, and how much it is. A payor that gets a certified-mail request about a payment must answer within 30 days. If the balance is over $100, our late payment interest calculator shows the usual deadlines. Read more about royalties held in suspense.
Questions owners ask
Common questions
Short answers. Sources are at the end of the page.
Why was I not paid this month?
If the payor owes you $100 or less in total, Texas Natural Resources Code section 91.402(f) lets it pay once a year, for up to 12 months of proceeds at a time. If it owes you less than $10, it may hold the money until production stops or until it no longer has to pay you. Small interests often see no check for months for this reason.
Is exactly $100 paid monthly or once a year?
Once a year. The statute says a total amount of $100 or less, so a balance of exactly $100 still falls under the yearly rule. Only a balance over $100 leaves it.
When will my yearly payment come?
The statute does not name a day. We estimate it as a year after your last payment, moving the 29th, 30th or 31st to the end of a shorter month. It is an estimate, not a due date. If that date passes, ask the payor when it will pay and how much it holds.
Does a held small balance earn interest?
Section 91.403 sets interest on payments made after the deadlines in section 91.402. Whether a small balance paid under subsection (f) is late depends on the facts, so ask the payor how it applied the rule before you ask for interest.
My balance went over $100. What now?
Then the small-balance rule no longer applies and the usual deadlines do: in Texas, oil proceeds 60 days and gas proceeds 90 days after the end of the month of sale. We do not work out a date here because it depends on when the oil or gas was sold.
Free check
Rather have us check the statement?
Upload it. We compare every month with the Railroad Commission record and give you the questions to ask.