At any time within ten years after the payment into the state treasury of the surplus proceeds of any such sale as provided in the preceding section (§ 43-39), the former owner or owners of the property so sold, upon evidence of such ownership satisfactory to the Comptroller, shall be paid the principal amount of such surplus proceeds so paid into the state treasury out of any moneys held in reserve on the books of the Department of Accounts for the benefit of the Literary Fund upon warrant of the Comptroller. If any such claim be disallowed in whole or in part by the Comptroller, it may be recovered in the manner and subject to the conditions and limitations provided in §§ 8.01-192 through 8.01-195 and 8.01-255 for recovering claims against the Commonwealth.