Florida Statute 717.135
“Recovery agreements and purchase agreements for claims filed by a claimant representative; fees and costs or total net gain”
What it means
When a claimant representative files a Florida unclaimed property claim for someone else, §717.135 governs the deal. Total fees and costs — or the total discount under a purchase agreement — may not exceed 30 percent of the claimed amount; any excess is reduced to 30 percent and the balance remitted by the department directly to the claimant.
The department's Abandoned Property Recovery Agreement and Abandoned Property Purchase Agreement are the exclusive forms; an agreement not authorized by the section is void. The form must disclose the dollars claimed, the fee percentage and dollar deductions, and the net amount to the claimant — and a recovery agreement may not be made irrevocable or assign property held by the department.
- Fees and costs — or a purchase agreement's total discount — are capped at 30 percent of the claimed amount.
- Excess fees are reduced to 30 percent, with the balance remitted by the department directly to the claimant.
- The department's named forms are the exclusive means of contracting; an agreement not authorized by the section is void.
- Mandatory disclosures: dollars claimed, fee percentage, dollar deductions, net to the claimant, account numbers.
- A recovery agreement may not be irrevocable and may not assign any portion of the property held by the department.
- A purchase agreement's price must reach the seller within 30 days of execution.
How it plays out
Heir-finder letters arrive mid-probate constantly: an out-of-state firm has located “funds in your name” for a percentage. The first step is free — search FLTreasureHunt.gov, because the state's own claim process costs nothing. Where a finder genuinely earned a fee, §717.135 keeps the deal inside guardrails: the state's form, every number in dollars, the 30 percent ceiling. We read the agreement before anyone signs; since an unauthorized form is void, the paper itself is often the complete answer.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 717.135 does real work:
Questions people ask
