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Are there unclaimed royalties in my name?
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SourceTexas Property Code 75.101 for the three-year rule (text). ClaimItTexas checked 2026-09-29. Mineral proceeds (royalties, overriding royalties, net revenue interests, bonuses, delay and shut-in rentals) that an owner has not claimed for longer than three years after they became payable are presumed abandoned. The company holding them, usually the operator, then reports them and hands them to the Comptroller by July 1 (Texas Property Code 75.101). Money an operator could not pay a lost owner can therefore show up here.
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Transcript of “Texas is holding $9 billion+ in unclaimed money. Some is oil royalties”
Intro
The State of Texas is holding more than nine billion dollars that belongs to somebody else. Old bank accounts. Uncashed paychecks. Forgotten deposits. And mixed in with all of it are oil and gas royalties that never reached the families they belong to. Searching is free. It takes a few minutes. And there's no deadline. Here's how royalty money ends up there, how to find it, and how to claim it without paying anyone a cut. General information, not legal advice. Let's go.
How royalties go missing
Royalty money takes a trip before it lands in the state's vault. Five stops. Stop one. The oil or gas is sold, and the operator owes each owner their share. Stop two. The check goes out to the address on file, and comes back. Or it never gets cashed. Stop three. The company holds the money. Under Texas law, royalties unclaimed for more than three years after they became payable are presumed abandoned. Stop four. If the amount is over two hundred fifty dollars, the company has to send the owner a notice first, if it has an address. Stop five. By July first, the company delivers the money to the Texas Comptroller, who holds it for the owner.
Who this happens to
So who does this happen to? Mostly, normal families. Someone moves, and forgets to send the oil company a new address. An owner dies, and the heirs never tell the company. The checks keep going to an empty mailbox. A name changes after a marriage or a divorce, and the paperwork never catches up. Or the checks are tiny. A few dollars a month. So they sit in a drawer, uncashed, for years. And here's the part that stings. Later royalties from that same interest can follow the first ones to the state, until somebody fixes the address.
How to search
Here's the search, step by step. Go to ClaimItTexas.gov. That's the Comptroller's official site, and it's free. Type the last name, then the first name. If you get too many results, add a city. Now search again. For your parents. Your grandparents. Aunts and uncles who owned land. Maiden names, too. When a listing shows the company that reported the money, write it down. It points to a lease that may still be producing. And if an oil company mailed you an owner notice, it has a property ID printed on it. You can search with that instead.
Search like a detective
Most people search once, find nothing, and give up. Don't. Oil companies type owner names however they were typed decades ago. So search with initials, and with and without middle names. Try common misspellings. A dropped letter, a doubled letter. Try the estate and the trust. Royalties are often reported under names like Mae Hollis Estate, or the Hollis Family Trust. And try old family businesses. The ranch, the partnership, the company grandpa ran in the nineteen seventies. Royalty Clerk's free unclaimed royalties search builds that list of name variations for you, so you can work down it in one sitting. Here's how it plays out for a sample family. Mae owned a small royalty. She died in 2015, and nobody told the oil company, so her checks kept going to an empty house. Three years later, the company sent the money to the state. Years after that, her grandson searched the family names, and found a listing under Hollis Mae Estate. The heirs filed a claim with proof that they inherited. And then, the step most people skip. They wrote to the oil company with the heirs' names and addresses, so future checks come to them, instead of to the state.
How to claim
Found something? Here's how the claim works. Choose claim next to each match that's yours. There's no blank form to download. The site builds your claim form from your search. Every claim needs a signed form and a photo ID. If the owner has died, you'll need proof that you're entitled. A probated will, letters testamentary, or a court order declaring heirship. For a claim under ten thousand dollars where a will was never probated, an affidavit of heirship can be used, when the people in the will are the same people who'd inherit without one. Then you track it with your claim ID. Approved claims are paid by check, in the mail.
The finder trap
Now, a warning. Sometimes a stranger finds you first. Heir finders and asset recovery companies watch these lists, and they'll offer to recover your money for a fee. Texas law caps that fee at ten percent of what's recovered. And for oil and gas money, the fee can't include a share of your minerals, an overriding royalty, or a production payment. The agreement has to be in writing, the finder can't file the claim for you, and heir finders must be licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety. So if a letter asks for a third of the money, or a slice of your minerals, that's your sign to search for free yourself.
Make it stop
Once you've claimed it, make sure it doesn't happen again. Write to the oil company with your current address, and ask what it needs to pay you directly. After a death in the family, send the company the papers that show who owns the interest now. Cash every check, even the small ones. And search again once a year. Companies report to the state every year. One more reason to move fast. Late-payment interest stops once the company hands the money to the state.
Free tools
To see the leases tied to your family's name, the mineral interest finder and the unclaimed royalties search at royaltyclerk.com are free. Send this to one relative who'd want to know. Thanks for watching.
Sample numbers, families and documents are illustrations, not real owners. General information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Why royalties end up with the state
An operator that cannot find an owner, or whose check goes uncashed, keeps the money in suspense. After more than three years the law presumes it abandoned, and the operator must report it and hand it to the Comptroller by July 1. The state then holds it for the owner and the owner’s heirs, with no deadline to claim it.
How to search
- Type the owner’s name above, and any other names to try.
- Copy each line into ClaimItTexas, one at a time.
- Look for a royalty or mineral entry, or a company that is an oil and gas operator.
If the owner has died
A beneficiary or executor can claim. The estate mineral report searches the appraisal rolls for every interest under the person’s names, values each as of the date of death, and gives this search with the names already written.
If you are still receiving royalties, upload a statement and we compare it with the state record.
How it happens
How a royalty becomes unclaimed property
Month 0
Oil or gas is sold
The royalty becomes payable 60 days after the sales month for oil and 90 days for gas, unless your lease sets another time. NRC §91.402Payable, unpaid
It goes unclaimed
The check is never cashed, the owner cannot be found, or the payment is held. The clock counts from when it became payable, not from the sale.After 3 years
Presumed abandoned
The proceeds, the owner's right to receive them, and later proceeds under the same right are all presumed abandoned. Prop. Code §75.101By July 1
Reported and delivered
A holder that has it on March 1 reports it and delivers it to the Comptroller by July 1. Over $250, it must first mail or email you notice, at least 60 days before, if it has an address. Prop. Code §74.101 Prop. Code §74.1011Then
The state holds it for you
The Comptroller sends notice to reported owners the following year and holds the money with no statute of limitations. You claim it when you find it. ClaimItTexas FAQ
Check the period before you count it
UNCLAIMED ROYALTIES · FOUR NUMBERS
3years
Unclaimed after it became payable, and Texas presumes the proceeds abandoned.
60days
Notice the operator must send before it hands over an amount over $250, if it has your address.
0deadline
No time limit to claim it from the state. The funds are held until the rightful owner takes them.
$0to search
Searching and claiming are free. A finder may charge 10 percent at most.
Check your family's names too.
Step by step
How to search and claim on ClaimItTexas
Step 1: Open the search page
Go to ClaimItTexas and choose Search for Unclaimed Property.
Step 2: Search by name
Type the last or business name and the first name. If you get too many results, add a city. If you have an owner notice in the mail, type the Property ID instead.
Step 3: Add the property and start the claim
Choose Claim next to each match that is yours, then Continue to File Claim. There is no blank form to download. The site builds your claim form from your search.
Step 4: Sign, attach and send
Sign the form and add your papers. Upload them to the site as PDF, TIF, PNG or JPG files under 10 MB, or mail them. ClaimItTexas documents
Step 5: Track it
Use your Claim ID to see progress. An approved claim is paid by paper check, mailed by the U.S. Postal Service. How to claim
NAMES TO SEARCH
- Your name as it prints on your stubs, and any earlier name
- Parents and grandparents whose minerals you inherited
- A family trust, LLC or estate that holds the minerals
- Different spellings, and with or without a middle initial
- A married and a maiden name
One search per name. It is quick.
What you need
Papers for a claim
BEFORE YOU FILE
The claim form
Signed. ClaimItTexas generates it after you search, so there is no blank form to download.
A photo ID
A copy of your photo ID.
The attachment sheet
The claim form lists any extra papers your situation needs. Follow that list.
Papers for an inherited claim
The will, probate order, letters, heirship order or affidavit from the table below.
Upload as PDF, TIF, PNG or JPG, under 10 MB a file, or mail to Comptroller of Public Accounts, Unclaimed Property Claims Section, P.O. Box 12046, Austin, TX 78711-2046.
Who can claim, and what they send
This follows the list of who the Comptroller may pay. Prop. Code §74.501 The claim form's attachment sheet names the exact papers, so treat this as the map and the sheet as the rule.
| You are | The Comptroller may pay | You send |
|---|---|---|
| You are the owner named in the search result | The reported owner | Signed claim form and photo ID |
| The owner died and left a will that went through probate | Beneficiaries under the will, or an executor with current letters testamentary | The will and probate order, or the letters, with the claim form |
| The owner died and left a will that was never probated, and the claim is under $10,000 | The will's beneficiaries, if they are the same people who would inherit with no will | The will, plus an affidavit of heirship on the Comptroller's form |
| The owner died with no will | The legal heirs under Estates Code sections 201.001 to 201.003, or a court-appointed administrator | Proof of who the heirs are, or the administrator's court papers |
| A court has already decided who the heirs are | The heirs named in a determination of heirship order signed by a probate or county judge | A copy of the order |
| The owner is a business | The president or board chair, or anyone with legal authority to act for it | Proof of your authority, as the claim form lists |
The affidavit of heirship for claims of $10,000 or less is on the Comptroller's forms page. ClaimItTexas forms
Protect it
Fees, finders and keeping it from happening again
Finders and fees
- You do not need one. The search and the claim are free.
- A finder's fee is capped at 10 percent, must be in a written agreement, and for mineral proceeds cannot include a share of the minerals or an override. Prop. Code §74.507
- Heir finders must be licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Bureau. ClaimItTexas FAQ
- The Comptroller generally cannot pay a creditor, an assignee, or someone holding a power of attorney. Prop. Code §74.501
Keep it from happening again
- Update your address with every company that pays you. ClaimItTexas names the ones that issue mineral interest checks.
- After a claim is paid, write to the operator and ask what it needs to pay you directly. Later proceeds under the same right are presumed abandoned too. Prop. Code §75.101
- After a death, send the operator the papers that show who owns the interest now.
- Cash your checks. Money left unclaimed for three years is presumed abandoned.
Questions owners ask
Common questions
Short answers. Sources are at the end of the page.
How do I find unclaimed royalties in Texas?
Search the Texas Comptroller's unclaimed property database, ClaimItTexas, under the owner's name. Royalties an operator could not pay are reported there once they have gone unclaimed for more than three years. Add a city if you get too many results. If the operator mailed you an owner notice, search the Property ID printed on it. The search needs a person to complete a check, so we give you the names to type and the steps rather than run it for you.
When do royalties become unclaimed property?
Under Texas Property Code 75.101, mineral proceeds that have remained unclaimed by the owner for longer than three years after they became payable are presumed abandoned. The company holding them then reports them and delivers them to the Comptroller by July 1.
Which names should I search?
The owner's name as it appeared on royalty checks and tax notices, both ways round, without a middle name or initial, and with the first initial only. Then a spouse's name, a maiden name and any business or trust the owner held. This page writes those lines for you.
Should I pay someone to find it for me?
You do not have to. A person who tells you about unclaimed property may not contract for more than 10 percent of what is recovered, plus reasonable attorney's fees, and if the property is mineral proceeds the fee may not include part of the underlying minerals or an overriding royalty (Property Code 74.507). A letter that asks for more, or asks to file the claim for you, conflicts with that section. An heir finder or asset recovery company must also be licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Bureau.
Do you look up the names for me?
No. The state's search sits behind a check that only a person can complete, and it takes no name in its web address. We do not get around it. The names you type here stay in your browser.
Is there a deadline to claim money the state is holding?
No. ClaimItTexas states that there is no statute of limitations for unclaimed property and that reported funds remain with the Comptroller indefinitely until they are returned to the rightful owner. Searching and claiming are free.
Can an heir claim an owner's unclaimed royalties?
Yes, if you are entitled to them. The Comptroller may pay the beneficiaries under a will that has been probated, an executor holding current letters testamentary, the legal heirs when there was no will, or the heirs named in a determination of heirship order (Property Code 74.501). For a claim of $10,000 or less on a will that was never probated, an affidavit of heirship can be used when the will's beneficiaries are the same people who would inherit with no will.
The operator says it sent my royalties to the state. What now?
Search ClaimItTexas and add the property to a claim. Then write to the operator, give it your current address, and ask what it needs to pay future royalties to you. Later proceeds under the same right are presumed abandoned too, so they can follow the first payment to the Comptroller if the operator still cannot reach you.
Is interest still owed once the money is with the state?
Interest on a late royalty payment under Natural Resources Code section 91.403 stops running when the payor delivers the money to the Comptroller.
Can someone else claim it for me with a power of attorney?
Generally not. The Comptroller may not pay a claim to a creditor, a judgment creditor, a lienholder or an assignee of the owner or the owner's heirs, or to a person holding a power of attorney. The exceptions include a durable power of attorney for a person who is medically incapacitated.
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