Could you be in luck?
(Picture: Shutterstock )There are more than 3,000 unclaimed estates in London and some people could be owed a small fortune from a long-lost relative.
Government records released on December 28 reveals a list of surnames of property owners who died without leaving a will in 2022.
All unclaimed estates are registered online as “bona vacantia” by the Treasury Solicitor.
After 30 years, if still unclaimed, the dormant assets become the property of the state.
Hundreds of estates worth life-changing sums are among the 6,650 left by people with no clear inheritor who died in the UK.
Government guidance reveals the hierarchy in which relatives are able to make a claim on an estate.
Husbands, wives and civil partners are given priority. This is followed by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
In third place is mothers and fathers, then siblings and half brothers or sisters.
Grandparents have priority next followed by uncles and aunties and then half uncles and aunties.
Official figures from 2021 showed that a huge total of £77million in unclaimed inheritance was languishing in Treasury coffers.
Britons with the surnames Smith and Jones are more likely to have missed out on a windfall after a death.
The full list of unclaimed estates can be found here - Unclaimed estates list - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
