Every so often a conversation with a Colorado mineral owner takes a turn we did not expect. They called to ask about a lease or an old deed, and somewhere in the sorting-out we realize there is likely money sitting with the state that has their name on it. Not from us. From royalties that were owed years ago, went uncashed or unclaimed, and eventually got turned over to the Colorado Treasury.
Most people have no idea this happens. So here is how it works, and how to check.
Where the money comes from
When an operator owes a mineral owner money and cannot pay it, the funds do not disappear. They sit. A check gets mailed to an old address and returned. An owner passes away and the royalties keep accruing while the operator tries to figure out who inherited. A division order never gets signed, so the account stays in suspense. Title is unclear, so nothing is released.
For a while the operator holds those proceeds. But operators are not allowed to hold unclaimed money forever. After a dormancy period set by state law, they are required to report it and turn it over to the state. At that point it stops being the operator’s problem and becomes unclaimed property held by the Colorado Department of the Treasury.
The Great Colorado Payback, in plain terms
Colorado’s unclaimed property program has a friendly name: the Great Colorado Payback. It is run by the state Treasury, and it holds all kinds of forgotten money, old bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, insurance refunds, and yes, oil and gas royalties and mineral proceeds.
Two things are worth knowing. First, the state holds the money indefinitely. There is no deadline by which you lose the right to claim what is yours. Second, searching and claiming are free. The Treasury does not charge you to give you your own money back, and you do not need to pay anyone to find it for you.
How to check
The Great Colorado Payback has a free search tool on the Colorado Treasury website. You type in a name and it shows any property the state is holding under it. It is worth searching a few ways:
- Your own name, and any former names.
- The names of parents or grandparents you may have inherited from.
- Common misspellings and initials, since old records are not always tidy.
There is also a national search at missingmoney.com that covers Colorado and most other states at once, which helps if a family member lived in more than one place. If you find a match, the site walks you through a claim.
One caution. If you ever get a letter from a company offering to recover unclaimed money for you in exchange for a percentage, you do not need it. You can do the exact same search and claim yourself, at no cost, through the state.
What this has to do with inherited minerals
This comes up most with inherited minerals, and especially in Colorado, where the DJ Basin has generated royalty income for decades. A relative owned a small interest, passed away, and the paperwork to transfer it was never finished. The wells kept producing. The royalties kept accruing. Eventually the operator, unable to confirm who to pay, reported the money to the state.
Years later a family member starts sorting through the estate, finds a reference to minerals in Colorado, and discovers the interest is real. Sometimes there is a producing well behind it. Sometimes there is a balance waiting at the Treasury too. The two are separate, and it is worth checking both. If you are early in that process, our guide on inherited Colorado minerals is a good place to start.
If you find something
If a search turns up a match, the state’s claim process asks you to prove you are who you say you are, and that you are entitled to the property, usually with identification and, for an inherited claim, documents showing your relationship to the original owner. It takes some paperwork, but it is a real and legitimate way to recover money that is genuinely yours.
If you are working through inherited Colorado minerals and are not sure how the pieces fit, an old deed, a suspended account, a balance at the Treasury, a well you did not know about, we are happy to help you make sense of it. There is nothing to sell to have that conversation, and we would rather you understand what you have than rush anything. Give us a call or send a note, and we will talk it through.