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Unclaimed money in Texas: search free, and claim it yourself
By Andre Haynes, founder of BillRelief Check · Last verified July 2026 ·
Sourced to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Texas Property Code
Texas runs one of the more straightforward programs in the country, and the law is unusually good to you here. There is a fee cap written into the statute, and a rule that stops finders from filing your claim at all. Here is the whole thing, in the state's own words, plus the one property type Texas has that almost no other state does.
The only official site is ClaimItTexas.gov. It is run by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Searching is free and filing a claim is free. If you are looking at a sponsored ad promising to find your money for a cut, you are looking at someone who is about to run the same free search you can run in thirty seconds.
Step 1: search, free
Go to ClaimItTexas.gov and search your name. The Comptroller states plainly that businesses and individuals can search for their unclaimed property there. No account, no fee, no Social Security number required just to see whether property exists.
Search every version of your name, not just the one on your license. The database holds what somebody typed in years ago. Search your maiden name. Search with and without a middle initial. Search Jr. and Sr. Search obvious misspellings of your surname. Search every city in Texas you have lived in. Search any business or LLC you have ever owned. And search deceased relatives if you may be an heir.
What Texas counts as unclaimed property
The Comptroller defines it as any financial asset or safe deposit box contents abandoned by the owner for one or more years. Note that this is not California's three year rule. The exact abandonment period varies by property type, and the Comptroller publishes those periods in its property type code tables.
Their own list of examples:
abandoned bank accounts
uncashed checks
overpayments
payroll and vendor checks
unredeemed gift cards
insurance proceeds
dividends
mineral interests
The Texas category almost nobody checks: mineral royalties
That last one matters more here than anywhere else in the country. Oil and gas royalty payments that an operator could not deliver get reported to the Comptroller like any other unclaimed asset. Texas Property Code Chapter 75 exists specifically for mineral proceeds.
If you or your family ever owned land in Texas, or inherited an interest you never thought about, search the family surname specifically. People find these decades after the fact because nobody in the family knew the interest existed. It costs you nothing to look.
The law is on your side here, and most people never read it
Texas wrote consumer protection directly into the statute. Two provisions are worth knowing before anyone contacts you about "your funds."
Texas Property Code Section 74.507(a): the fee is capped at 10 percent.
A person who tells you that you may be entitled to claim property "may not contract for or receive from the claimant for services an amount that exceeds 10 percent of the value of the property recovered, plus reasonable attorney's fees necessary to pursue the claim."
So a 30 or 40 percent agreement is not a hard bargain. It is over the legal limit.
Section 74.507(a) again, on minerals specifically.
If the property involved is mineral proceeds, the fee "may not include a portion of the underlying minerals or any production payment, overriding royalty, or similar payment."
Nobody gets a slice of your minerals for pointing at a public database.
Section 74.507(b): a percentage finder cannot even file for you.
A person who informs a potential claimant and by written agreement is to receive a percentage of the value of the property "may not file or receive a form to claim on behalf of a claimant."
Read that twice. You are filing it yourself regardless. So what exactly is the 10 percent buying?
The rule with no exceptions. You never pay anyone to claim money that is already yours. Searching is free, filing is free, and the same listing a finder is chasing is sitting on the public database right now under your own name. If someone calls, texts, or mails you asking for a fee, a gift card, or your bank login to release your money, that is a scam. Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to the Comptroller's fraud page.
Step 2: file the claim
You file on ClaimItTexas.gov. Claims run through the Comptroller's office under Texas Property Code Chapter 74, which covers the whole reporting, delivery, and claims process.
Prove you are the person on the record. Expect government-issued photo ID and documentation tying you to the property or to the address it was reported under. That address is the one the company had for you when the account went quiet, which may be several moves ago. Old utility bills, pay stubs, statements, and leases are the usual ways people bridge that gap.
Claiming for someone who died is the slower path. Plan on a certified death certificate, proof of your relationship, and legal documentation of your right to claim, such as a will or probate paperwork. If multiple heirs exist, each share has to be accounted for properly. Ask the Comptroller's office which route applies to your amount before you assemble a package for the wrong one.
If you are denied, that is not the end. Chapter 74 includes a hearing provision (Section 74.504) and an appeal provision (Section 74.506). In practice, most denials come down to documentation that did not establish ownership, which means more evidence rather than a lost cause. Ask the office, in writing, exactly what failed.
One honest gap, and I would rather say so than guess. A lot of sites will tell you a Texas claim takes "90 days." I could not verify that figure against the Comptroller or the Property Code, and the sites quoting it do not agree with each other, ranging from five business days to several months. So I am not going to print a number I cannot source. What is true everywhere: complete packages move and incomplete ones sit. If you want a real answer for your claim, use the status tracker or call 800-321-2274 and ask.
Which bill is actually hurting?
Unclaimed money is only one kind of help. If what is really squeezing you is a medical bill, credit cards, or your internet bill, the free way out is completely different and I will point you at the right one. Two minutes, no signup to see your answer.
Everything above is free and it is genuinely everything you need to start. But if you are sitting in front of a claim form right now and you want the complete system instead of a page you keep scrolling back to, that is what I built The Money You're Owed Playbook for.
Inside: the claim-winning walkthrough step by step, the name-variation method for finding claims your first search missed, the document checklist by claim type so you know what proof an owner, an heir, or a business needs, the finder-fee shield, and the complete money-source map across all 50 states and the federal programs most people never check.
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Common questions
Is it really free to search and claim in Texas?
Yes. The Comptroller runs ClaimItTexas.gov and there is no charge to search or to file. It is the only official site.
How much can a finder legally charge me?
Texas Property Code Section 74.507 caps it at 10 percent of the value recovered, plus reasonable attorney's fees necessary to pursue the claim. On mineral proceeds, the fee cannot include any portion of the underlying minerals or any production payment, overriding royalty, or similar payment.
Can a finder file the claim for me?
No. Section 74.507(b) says a person receiving a percentage of the property's value may not file or receive a claim form on behalf of a claimant. You file it yourself either way.
How long before property is turned over to the state?
The Comptroller defines unclaimed property as abandoned by the owner for one or more years. The exact period depends on property type, and the Comptroller publishes those tables.
Does Texas hold oil and gas royalties?
Yes. Mineral interests are on the Comptroller's own list of unclaimed property types, and Chapter 75 of the Property Code deals specifically with mineral proceeds.
Does it cover real estate?
No. The program covers financial assets and safe deposit box contents, not land.
Sources. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Unclaimed Property program page (definition, one or more years abandonment, property type examples including mineral interests, ClaimItTexas.gov as the search location, 800-321-2274, unclaimed.property@cpa.texas.gov) and ClaimItTexas.gov (search, claim, status tracker). Texas Property Code Title 6, Chapters 72 to 77: Chapter 74, Report, Delivery and Claims Process, including Section 74.507 (fee cap and the prohibition on percentage finders filing claims), Section 74.504 (hearing), Section 74.506 (appeal), Section 74.308 (Period of Limitation Not a Bar), and Chapter 75 (mineral proceeds). National multi-state gateway: unclaimed.org (NAUPA). Scam reporting: reportfraud.ftc.gov. Verified July 2026. We deliberately do not print a claim processing timeline for Texas because we could not verify one against a primary source. We re-check these links on a schedule and correct this page when the state changes its guidance.
BillRelief Check is an independent educational publisher. We are not a government agency and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, any state treasury, or any unclaimed property office. We do not search, file, or claim on your behalf, and we are not a law firm. Educational information only, not legal, tax, or financial advice. We cannot know whether you are owed anything, and we do not guarantee any amount, any approval, or any result. Searching for and claiming your unclaimed property is free through the Texas Comptroller and you never need to pay anyone to do it. Statutes, rules, and documentation requirements change; always confirm against comptroller.texas.gov and ClaimItTexas.gov before you rely on anything here.