Unclaimed oil and gas royalties in Texas: how to find and claim them

When an oil and gas company cannot pay a royalty owner for long enough, Texas law treats the money as abandoned and the company turns it over to the Texas Comptroller. The Comptroller lists mineral royalties among the kinds of unclaimed property it holds (Comptroller, Jan. 2025). This guide covers how that happens, how to search and claim, and how to get paid by the company before it gets that far.

On this page: how royalties become unclaimed · the Texas rules · search and claim · get paid by the operator first · W-9 and address · division orders · if the operator does not respond

How royalties become unclaimed

The usual causes are ordinary paperwork:

• The owner moved and checks went to an old address, or came back undelivered.
• The owner died and the heirs never sent the operator the probate or heirship documents, so payments stayed in the deceased owner's name.
• A title question was never answered. A payor may hold payments without interest while there is a title dispute, a reasonable doubt about title, or a title requirement the owner has not met after a reasonable request (Tex. Nat. Res. Code §91.402(b)).
• A division order was not signed. If the division order contains only the terms the statute allows and the owner will not sign it, the payor may hold payment without interest until it is signed (§91.402(e)).
• The well changed hands and the new payor did not have a good address. A new payor must send each owner written notice with its phone number (§91.407).

The Texas rules for unclaimed mineral proceeds

• Three years. Mineral proceeds, including royalties, overriding royalties, bonuses, delay rentals and shut-in royalties, that remain unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after they became payable are presumed abandoned, together with the owner's right to receive them. Royalties that accrue after that point are presumed abandoned too (Tex. Prop. Code §75.001, §75.101).
• Notice first. A company holding property worth more than $250 must write to the owner at the last known mail or email address at least 60 days before delivering it to the Comptroller (§74.1011). Answering that letter lets the company pay you before the money goes to the state.
• Report and delivery by July 1. A holder reports the property it holds on March 1 and delivers it to the Comptroller on or before the following July 1 (§74.101, §74.301). For royalties from RRC-regulated wells, the report must include the lease, property or well name, its identification number and the county (§74.101(e)).
• Interest stops. A payor's duty to pay late-payment interest ends when it delivers the proceeds and the interest owed so far to the Comptroller (§91.403(c)).

How to search and claim

1. Search ClaimItTexas.gov, the Comptroller's unclaimed property site. Try every name the interest may sit under: your name and earlier names, a deceased parent or grandparent, a trust, an estate, or a family company.
2. File the claim with the Comptroller. The Comptroller can pay the reported owner and, with the right documents, heirs, executors, administrators and other people listed in §74.501.
3. Expect to document the interest. For mineral proceeds reported with an unknown owner, the claimant must show that they owned the mineral interest when the minerals were produced, or are the legal heir or successor of the person who did; the Comptroller may require a quiet title judgment (34 Tex. Admin. Code §13.8).
4. Know the time limits and fees. The Comptroller says there is generally no time limit for owners to file a claim (Comptroller). It may deduct a handling fee from claim payments of $100 or more (§74.509).

Finder services that contact you about unclaimed money may not charge more than 10% of the value recovered, plus reasonable attorney's fees, and for mineral proceeds the fee may not include any share of the minerals, a production payment or an overriding royalty (§74.507; also on the RRC Royalties FAQ). You can file the claim yourself.

Get paid by the operator first

Money that has not reached the state is still with the payor, usually the operator or the purchaser of the oil or gas (§91.401). Contact its owner relations or revenue department:

• Use the address and phone on an old check stub; Texas law requires every stub to show one (§91.502). No stub? Find the operator from the lease (how). Our pages for the 200 largest operators each have a Getting paid section with the mailing address the operator filed with the Railroad Commission.
• Give your owner number if you have one, the lease or well name, the RRC lease number, the county and the months unpaid.
• Send what the operator needs to fix the record: a current address, a W-9, and, for inherited interests, the recorded probate or heirship documents (inherited mineral rights).
• Texas law also lets a holder pay a valid claim filed directly with it (§74.502).

W-9 and address updates

A payor is entitled to your name, address and taxpayer identification number on the division order (§91.402(c)). Without a correct taxpayer ID, the payer may have to withhold federal tax at 24 percent from future payments, and royalty payments are among the payments this backup withholding covers (IRS). Send a signed Form W-9 and a written address change to each payor, keep copies, and confirm the change on the next stub.

Division orders

A division order confirms your decimal interest and tells the payor how to pay you. Texas limits what it may contain, it does not amend your lease, and either side can end it on 30 days' written notice (§91.402(c), (g), (h)). If the form has extra terms and you will not sign it for that reason, the payor may not withhold payment solely because of that refusal (§91.402(e)). See how to read a division order.

If the operator does not respond

1. Know the deadlines. First payment is due within 120 days after the end of the month of first sale. After that, payments follow your lease, or if the lease is silent, 60 days after the end of the month for oil and 90 days for gas (§91.402(a)). Late payments earn interest at 2 percentage points above the rate the Federal Reserve Bank of New York charges on loans to depository institutions, unless a written agreement sets another rate (§91.403).
2. Ask by certified mail. A payor must answer questions about a payment by certified mail within 30 days (§91.505), and requests about deductions, gas heating value or the RRC lease number within 60 days (§91.504). If required stub information is missing and a certified request goes unanswered for 60 days, either side may request mediation and the owner may sue to enforce it (§91.507).
3. Send written notice of nonpayment by mail. It is required before suing for late proceeds or interest. The payor has 30 days after receiving it to pay or to explain in writing a reasonable cause for nonpayment (§91.404).
4. Talk to an oil and gas attorney. Suit can be filed in the county where the well is located (§91.404(c)). A court must award reasonable attorney's fees in a final judgment for the plaintiff, and at least $200 in total damages (§91.406). The State Bar of Texas runs a lawyer referral service.

The Railroad Commission tracks wells, operators and production. It says it has no authority over lease and royalty matters, including payment of royalties, and refers questions about unclaimed royalties to the Comptroller (RRC Royalties FAQ).

Related: check your royalty check against RRC production.

Not legal or tax advice. Statutes quoted or summarized from the Texas Natural Resources Code and Property Code as published at statutes.capitol.texas.gov (checked Oct 19, 2026). Royalties payable to the University of Texas System or the General Land Office follow other rules (§91.405).