(a) The comptroller shall review the validity of each claim filed under this section.
(b) If the comptroller determines that a claim is valid, the comptroller or the comptroller’s authorized agent shall approve the claim. If the claim is for money and has been approved under this section, the comptroller shall pay the claim. If a claim is for personal property other than money and has been approved under this section, the comptroller shall deliver the property to the claimant unless the comptroller has sold the property. If the property has been sold under § 74.401, the comptroller shall pay to the claimant the proceeds from the sale.

Terms Used In Texas Property Code 74.501

  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Comptroller: means the state comptroller of public accounts. See Texas Government Code 312.011
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • Testate: To die leaving a will.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005

(c) All claims to which this subchapter applies must:
(1) identify the specific property in the possession of the comptroller that is being claimed;
(2) include all necessary documentation the comptroller may require; and
(3) except as provided by § 74.503, be filed in accordance with procedures, contain the information, and be on forms prescribed by the comptroller.
(d) On receipt of a claim form and all necessary documentation the comptroller may require, or as may be appropriate under the circumstances, the comptroller may approve the claim of:
(1) the reported owner of the property;
(2) if the reported owner died testate:
(A) the appropriate legal beneficiaries of the owner as provided by the last will and testament of the owner that has been accepted into probate or filed as a muniment of title;
(B) the executor of the owner’s last will and testament who holds current letters testamentary; or
(C) the appropriate legal beneficiaries of the owner as provided by a valid last will and testament of the owner that has not been accepted into probate or filed as a muniment of title, if:
(i) the amount of the property being claimed is less than $10,000; and
(ii) the beneficiaries named in the will are the same persons who would inherit the property if the owner had died intestate;
(3) if the reported owner died intestate:
(A) the legal heirs of the owner as provided by Sections 201.001, 201.002, and 201.003, Estates Code;
(B) the court-appointed independent administrator of the owner’s estate, if the administrator was appointed before the fourth anniversary of the date of the death of the owner; or
(C) the court-appointed dependent administrator of the owner’s estate;
(4) the legal heirs of the reported owner as established by a determination of heirship order signed by a judge of the county probate court or by a county judge;
(5) if the reported owner is a minor child or an adult who has been adjudged incompetent by a court of law, the parent or legal guardian of the child or adult;
(6) if the reported owner is a corporation:
(A) the president or chair of the board of directors of the corporation, on behalf of the corporation; or
(B) any person who has legal authority to act on behalf of the corporation;
(7) if the reported owner is a corporation that has been dissolved or liquidated:
(A) the sole surviving shareholder of the corporation, if there is only one surviving shareholder;
(B) the surviving shareholders of the corporation in proportion to their ownership of the corporation, if there is more than one surviving shareholder;
(C) the corporation’s bankruptcy trustee, bankruptcy estate representative, or other person authorized pursuant to Title 11, United States Code, or an order of a bankruptcy court to act on behalf of or for the benefit of the corporation’s bankruptcy estate, or any assignee of any such person; or
(D) the court-ordered receiver for the corporation; or
(8) any other person that is entitled to receive the unclaimed property under other law or comptroller policy.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (d)(7), (f), or (g) or § 551.051, Estates Code, the comptroller may not pay to the following persons a claim to which this section applies:
(1) a creditor, a judgment creditor, a lienholder, or an assignee of the reported owner or of the owner’s heirs;
(2) a person holding a power of attorney from the reported owner or the owner’s heirs; or
(3) a person attempting to make a claim on behalf of a corporation that was previously forfeited, dissolved, or terminated, if the comptroller finds that:
(A) the corporation was revived for the purpose of making a claim under this section; and
(B) the person submitting the claim was not an authorized representative of the corporation at the time of the corporation’s forfeiture, dissolution, or termination.
(f) Notwithstanding Subsection (e), the comptroller may approve the claim of:
(1) the attorney general or other Title IV-D agency, as defined by § 101.033, Family Code, for child support arrearages owed by the reported owner of the property that are reflected in a child support lien notice that complies with § 157.313, Family Code; or
(2) a person holding a durable power of attorney of a person who is medically incapacitated.
(g) The comptroller may approve a claim for unclaimed property that complies with § 493.035, Government Code.

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