How to Fill Out the Texas Unclaimed Property Heir Claim Form (53-111-B)

To recover a deceased person’s property from the Texas Comptroller when there’s no probated will, you file the Texas unclaimed property heir claim form — officially the Affidavit of Heirship, Form 53-111-B — through ClaimItTexas.gov. A disinterested witness fills out most of the form, signs it before a notary, and it goes in with a death certificate, photo ID, Social Security numbers for the deceased and each heir, and proof of your relationship to the deceased. The form is designed for claims of $10,000 or less where the estate did not go through probate. Texas places no time limit on filing.

When Form 53-111-B Is the Right Form

The affidavit isn’t always required, and using it in the wrong situation will slow your claim down. Match your circumstances to one of these paths:

If the will was probated, skip the affidavit. Submit the probated will and letters testamentary with your online claim.
If there is a will but it was never probated, and the claim is $10,000 or less, submit the will together with a completed Form 53-111-B. The Comptroller can approve this when the people named in the will are the same people who would inherit under Texas intestacy law.
If there is no will and the claim is $10,000 or less, Form 53-111-B is exactly what you need.
If the claim exceeds $10,000 and the estate wasn’t probated, the Comptroller generally requires a court-issued determination of heirship or the appointment of an administrator instead of the affidavit.¹

A court-appointed independent administrator (appointed within four years of the owner’s death) or a dependent administrator can also file, regardless of claim size.¹

What to Gather Before You Start

Assemble everything below before opening the form. A missing document is the most common reason claims stall.

A certified death certificate for the original property owner, ordered from the county clerk where the death occurred or from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
A government-issued photo ID (driver’s license or passport) for each person filing.
Social Security numbers for the deceased owner and every heir named on the claim.
Proof of relationship for each heir: birth certificates, marriage licenses, or adoption records connecting that person to the deceased.
A complete copy of the will, if one exists but was not probated.
Certified copies of the probated will and letters testamentary from the county clerk, if probate occurred.²

Any foreign-language documents typically need an apostille or other authentication along with a certified English translation. Examiners have to read every page you submit, so handle translations before you file.

You’ll also need the claim ID number for each piece of property. Search the deceased person’s name at ClaimItTexas.gov, note every claim ID that appears in the results, and keep that list next to you while you work.

Filling Out Form 53-111-B

Download the form from the ClaimItTexas.gov forms page.³ Before you touch it, understand one thing: most of the form is not filled out by you, the heir. It is filled out by a disinterested witness — someone who knew the deceased and their family but is not a claimant and will not inherit anything. A friend, a neighbor, a longtime coworker. Not your sibling, not your parent, not anyone standing to receive a share.

Section A: Witness Information

The witness enters their own name, address, and contact information. The form states plainly that this person cannot be the claimant or an heir. Pick someone who knew the family situation well enough to speak to it under oath.

Section B: Decedent Information

Enter the deceased owner’s full legal name, date of death, and Social Security number. The form asks whether the decedent left a will and, if so, whether that will was probated. If the will was probated, the form directs you to stop and submit the probated will instead of continuing with the affidavit. If there was a will but no probate, attach a complete copy to the affidavit.

Section C: Marital and Family History

This is the longest and most important section. The witness works through the family tree in a specific order:

Every marriage the decedent entered, including any that ended in divorce or the death of a spouse. Mark fields N/A when they don’t apply rather than leaving blanks.
All children, biological or adopted, living or deceased. If there were none, the form directs you to skip ahead.
Descendants of any child who died before the decedent — grandchildren who inherit their parent’s share.
Whether the decedent’s mother and father are still living. If there is a surviving spouse or surviving child, the form allows you to skip past this to the attestation.
All siblings, living or deceased.
Descendants of any deceased sibling (nieces and nephews who take that sibling’s share).

Follow the form’s skip instructions exactly. Don’t leave fields empty; write N/A where a question doesn’t apply. If you run out of room on any question, the form directs you to attach additional pages.

Section D: Attestation and Notarization

Section D is the sworn statement. The witness signs under penalty of perjury that everything in the affidavit is true, accurate, and complete. This signature has to happen in front of a notary public, who then affixes the seal. Do not sign Section D at home. Bring the completed form to the notary unsigned, sign in their presence, and let them finish.³

Submitting the Claim

The fastest route is the upload feature at ClaimItTexas.gov, which accepts PDF, JPEG, and TIFF files and attaches your documents to the claim ID from your property search. You’ll get an on-screen confirmation when the upload succeeds.

If you’d rather mail physical copies, send the full package to:

Unclaimed Property Division
PO Box 12046
Austin, TX 78711-2046

Online submissions generally move faster than mail. Whichever route you use, keep your own copies. Examiners can come back weeks later with questions, and you’ll want your file to answer from.

After You File

Once a complete claim is in, examiners verify the heirship information and check for competing claims on the same property. The Comptroller notes that heavy claim volume can push processing beyond typical windows.⁴ Check status any time at ClaimItTexas.gov using your claim ID.

If something is missing or inconsistent, the examiner will contact you by email or mail. Respond quickly. An incomplete response restarts the clock.

Approved money claims are paid by state-issued check to the claimant. If the original property was not cash and the Comptroller sold it under authority of the Property Code, you receive the sale proceeds instead.¹ When several heirs are involved, funds are split according to the shares established in the probate paperwork, the affidavit, or the court’s heirship order.

How Texas Splits Property When There Is No Will

The reason the affidavit asks so many family questions is that the Comptroller applies Texas Estates Code Sections 201.001 through 201.003 to determine each heir’s share.⁵ The general rules:

With no surviving spouse, property goes first to children in equal shares. If there are no children, it goes to the parents equally. If only one parent survives and there are siblings, half goes to that parent and half is divided among the siblings. If neither parent survives, siblings take everything. If none of those relatives exist, the estate divides between the paternal and maternal sides, working outward through grandparents and their descendants.

With a surviving spouse, community property and separate property split differently. Community property passes entirely to the surviving spouse when all of the decedent’s children are also that spouse’s children. When any child is from a different relationship, the decedent’s half of the community estate passes to those children instead. For separate personal property, the surviving spouse takes one-third and the children take two-thirds. For separate real property, the surviving spouse takes a life estate in one-third, with the children inheriting the remainder.

Every marriage, every child, every deceased sibling matters because the statute creates a precise ranking. That’s why the witness has to answer each question in Section C, even when the answer feels obvious.

If the Heirs Don’t Agree

The affidavit route only works when all heirs agree on who inherits and in what shares. If someone disputes the affidavit — or believes an heir was left off — the disagreement has to go to a Texas probate court through a determination of heirship proceeding. The court hears evidence, identifies the heirs, sets their shares, and issues an order that can be submitted to the Comptroller in place of the affidavit.⁶

If a dispute surfaces after you’ve already filed, expect the Comptroller to hold the claim. Competing claims on the same property trigger extra review, and the state will not distribute funds while ownership is contested.

1
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 74.501 – Claim Filed With Comptroller
2
Texas Comptroller. Texas Unclaimed Property Forms and Resources
3
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Unclaimed Property Heir Claim Form
4
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Claim It Texas
5
State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Section 201.001 – Estate of an Intestate Not Leaving Spouse
6
Texas State Law Library. Informal Methods