By order of the court, the registry can accept the following funds:
To update an address with the Court Registry, write a brief letter notifying our office of the new address and fax the letter to (832) 927-0133 or mail it to:
If you have funds in the registry, have turned 18 and wish to withdraw those funds, our office can prepare an order for disbursement or this may be handled through a private attorney. To have our office prepare the order, please review our Instruction to Withdraw Minor Funds and submit the necessary documents.
Once a completed Application to Withdraw Funds has been submitted to our office, we prepare the order and send it to court, where a judge must sign it. The average timeframe is approximately six to eight weeks, depending on the court's schedule.
The registry must have a signed court order in order to release funds on deposit. An order can be prepared by hiring an attorney or by going to any law library to obtain information on how to prepare an order. The Harris County Law Library is located at 1019 Congress, 1st floor. A Form W-9 is required for all disbursements.
Minor’s funds that are unclaimed by the age of 21 are relinquished (escheated) to the State or to the County, depending on amount. Sums that are over $100 will be relinquished to the State and sums under $100 will be forwarded to the County Treasurer . Monies that are escheated to the State may be claimed from the State Comptroller's Unclaimed Property Division. Tendered money may require further court action to determine who may claim the funds. For further information and assistance, you may contact:
The current interest rate accrued on Court Registry Accounts is a variable rate that changes daily and is compounded monthly. The interest rate share is calculated on a pro rata share of the daily registry balance and interest earnings. Interest is posted to the accounts on a monthly basis. If the interest earned on an account is $10.00 or more, a 1099-INT Form is mailed out on or before January 31st of each year.
If a Form W-9 is not on file, the applicable percent of interest earned as determined by the Internal Revenue Service will be withheld until a Form W-9 is received. A Form W-9 is a Certification of Taxpayer’s Tax Identification Number. Once you have completed the Form W-9, you may fax it to us at (713) 755-6072 or mail to:
To receive a statement of funds deposited into the court registry, you may send a letter, which includes the case (cause) number along with all other identifying information to our office. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope with appropriate postage, usually one stamp for every five pages to be returned.
Refunds are batch processed at the end of each month and take approximately six to eight weeks from the last day of the month in which the refund was processed.
If property is sold in a tax sale in Harris County and there are proceeds from the sale, this overpayment is referred to as excess proceeds and is deposited with the Accounting Section. Upon receipt of excess proceeds, a certified letter is sent to the defendant within 31 days, if the amount of excess proceeds is more than $25.
In order to release the money, we must have a court order signed by the presiding judge. The order needs to include the following:
You may obtain an order to release excess proceeds by hiring an attorney or by going to any law library in order to obtain information on how to prepare an order. The Harris County Law Library is located at 1019 Congress, 1st floor.
To verify that our office is holding excess proceeds resulting from property sold in a tax sale in Harris County, please visit Search Our Records and Documents and enter the case information. If you cannot locate your case information online, you may obtain it by calling 832-927-5800. There is a $5.00 research fee for this service by phone.
To request a listing of excess proceeds being held in the registry, please email Court Registry.
Return items must be redeemed with our office immediately with two separate money orders or cashier’s checks. The first payment should cover the amount of the original check and the second payment is for the bank service fee of $25.00 for stop payments or $30.00 for all other returned items.
It is important to note that an individual or entity’s check-writing privileges will be suspended with our office until the return item and applicable fees are redeemed. If a pattern of returned items is recognized or, if we encounter difficulties in collecting on a returned item, check writing privileges may be removed indefinitely.
