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The amount can usually be kept confidential, but a clause silencing you about the abuse is generally void. The statute is Chapter 129C of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Since 1 September 2025, it makes a confidentiality clause void and unenforceable to the extent it stops you from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to one.
Two other things decide what you actually keep: what comes out of the settlement, and how it is allocated. The step that cannot wait is reading the agreement before you sign it. A release, a confidentiality clause and an allocation are hard to change once they are signed. You should know your net, in writing, before you decide. Call 713-521-0059 before you sign anything.
Not about the abuse itself. Section 129C.002 reaches any provision of a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement, and any such provision of an employment agreement, settlement agreement or any other agreement. It makes that provision void and unenforceable to the extent it prohibits a person from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to one. The chapter says this is against the public policy of Texas.
The same section then preserves the rest. Nothing in it may be construed to prohibit a person from agreeing to keep confidential any other provision of a settlement agreement, including the amount or payment terms. So a defendant can ask you to keep the number private. In most cases it cannot enforce a clause, to the extent it silences you about the abuse or facts related to it.
Section 129C.001 defines an act of sexual abuse by reference to conduct described in listed Family Code and Penal Code provisions. Those include sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault, which are not limited to children. Our page on NDAs and sexual abuse covers the statute and its retroactive reach in full.
No. These are two different things, and people often confuse them, so it helps to separate them.
A confidentiality clause is a private agreement between the parties, and it binds those who signed it. Sealing a court record is a court order restricting public access to filings. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 76a governs it and it is not automatic; Texas treats court records as presumptively open and a party seeking to seal must satisfy the rule.
Most personal injury settlements are never filed with the court at all, so most confidentiality clauses never involve sealing anything. If you want your name kept out of the public record, you are usually asking a different question. Our page on suing without your name addresses it.
The number in the agreement is not what you receive. Liens, subrogation claims, the fee and the expenses come out of it first.
Health insurance subrogation: a plan that paid for your treatment will usually assert a right to be repaid. The strength of that right depends on the plan, and the amount is frequently negotiable.
Hospital liens: under Chapter 55 of the Property Code, a hospital can hold a lien on the claim itself where the person was admitted within 72 hours of an accident.
Letter of protection balances: providers who treated you on a letter of protection are paid from the recovery.
Crime Victims’ Compensation: the Texas program may have paid for counseling, medical care, relocation or lost wages. If so, the State is subrogated to your rights to recover for pecuniary loss, to the extent of the compensation it paid (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 56B.202). If you claimed or received compensation, the statute also requires written notice to the attorney general before you sue. You need the attorney general’s written authorization before you settle (arts. 56B.401 and 56B.404).
How a settlement is allocated can change the arithmetic. An unallocated settlement can be treated as entirely economic, which maximizes what the State or another subrogated payer can recover. Allocation between economic and non-economic damages is negotiable. It is a decision you make before signing rather than afterward. Allocating the settlement deliberately, and documenting the basis for it, is ordinary and important work.
A release ends the claims it covers, permanently, so read carefully what it covers. A release drafted broadly can extend to parties who paid nothing and to claims nobody discussed. Once you sign it, in most cases you cannot reopen it because the injury turned out to be worse than expected. Chapter 129C addresses the silence provision, but it does not, by itself, undo a release.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Ask for your net, in writing, before you decide. A settlement statement shows the gross, the fee, each expense, each lien and the balance to you. Do not sign a release that silences you about the abuse. Since September 2025 Texas law treats such a clause as void to that extent, and an older agreement generally cannot be enforced without a court first declaring it enforceable. Liens and subrogation claims can often be negotiated, and every reduction adds to your net.
If someone has put a settlement agreement in front of you, we start by reading it. We tell you what it does, including which parts of it Texas law no longer allows. Then we work out your net and look at every lien and subrogation claim that can be reduced. If you simply want to know whether settling means being silenced for the rest of your life, in most cases the answer in Texas is now no.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people and survivors across Texas.
If you are an advocate or a counselor asking on someone’s behalf, you are welcome to call with a general question. We will not ask you for their name.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
Not about the abuse itself. Section 129C.002 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code makes any confidentiality provision void and unenforceable to the extent it prohibits a person from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to one.
In most cases, yes. The same section expressly preserves an agreement to keep confidential any other provision of a settlement, including the amount and payment terms.
Usually not. Most personal injury settlements are never filed with the court. Sealing a court record is a separate matter governed by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 76a, and Texas treats court records as presumptively open.
The attorney fee and case expenses usually come out first. Health insurance subrogation, hospital liens under Chapter 55 of the Property Code, and letter of protection balances can also come out. So can any Crime Victims' Compensation subrogation, to the extent of the compensation paid.
An unallocated settlement can be treated as entirely economic, which maximizes what a subrogated payer can recover from it. Allocating deliberately, and documenting the basis, protects your net.
Not by itself. Chapter 129C addresses the confidentiality provision. A release of legal claims remains a release.