There are more than 70 unclaimed estates in Bristol totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds sitting in limbo, just waiting to be claimed by the rightful inheritor. The Treasury's list has details of people who have died in Bristol where heirs were still being sought.
The latest Treasury list details close to 6,500 unclaimed estates in the UK with combined assets which could possibly run into nine figures. A total of £77 million in unclaimed estates in the UK has been sitting in Treasury coffers, according to official figures from 2021.
Unclaimed estates, classed as ‘ownerless property’, occur when there is either no will or the beneficiaries of the will cannot be traced and the next family member cannot be found. This is according to the rules of intestacy.
Read next: 'Cruel joke' as West Country restaurant hit with 40 fake bookings in one night
The Treasury only advertises estates with a net value of £500 or above. Craig Ridge, head of contentious probate at law firm Higgs LLP said that for anyone entitled to do so, claiming an estate is a straightforward process.
He said: “If you are aware of the death, there is really no need for services of heir hunters, which typically charge between 10 and 15 per cent. Unclaimed estates generally come about when someone dies without a will and no-one steps forward to deal with the estate.
“Should you believe you are entitled to an estate and if there is a will, it’s sometimes as simple as writing to the executors of the will and they will do everything for you from that point. If the executors do not respond, there are other things you can do but you may need some advice on how to go about it,” he said.
The surnames of deceased people in Bristol where estates are unclaimed are listed as: Banks, Brown, Campbell, Carpenter, Clark, Coles, Cromarty, Cullen, Dallas, Delahunty, Faulkner, Gardner, Grahame, Green, Greenman, Gwozdzik, Harvey, Healey, Horseman, Hudson, Hunt, Johnston, Marsh, McDermott, McKenzie, Messer, Morgan, O'Donnell, Parkhouse, Rudge, Smith, Staniek, Szpak, Taylor, Taylor, Thomas, Vieke, Watkins, Weaver, Whitcombe, Whybrow, Wiglasz, Williams, Woodley, Wright, Whitcher, Kowalski, Madden, Reid, Saunders, Sullivan, Black, Bryant, Bartlett, Fox, Loveridge, Lovett, Martin, Savage, Clements, Collins, Ellis, Samuda, Walters, Peterson, Gaez, Turner, Tusus-Platis, Luce, Stevens, Alders, Bauknecht.
Mr Ridge said: “If you know someone has died and you believe you may have been left something, then you can simply search the probate records or set up an alert for yourself so you know who to contact when the estate is dealt with.” For a nominal fee, anyone can get a copy of a will along with Grant of Probate which provides contact details for the executors.
He said: “If there’s no will, you can similarly get a copy of the Grant of Letters of Administration which will give you the administrators’ contact details, whilst separately checking the intestacy rules to see if you may be entitled to anything. If after some time, no-one deals with the estate, then it may be with checking the Treasury list to see if the estate is unclaimed.”
If no relative can be found within 12 years, the dormant estate becomes the property of the Crown, although it is still possible to make a claim if a person is legitimately entitled.
Read next:
- Women 'kicked and thrown to the ground' in 2.30am attack
- Fans say retailer Shein has ‘lost the plot’ with clothing range for hamsters - including slippers
- Bosses unfairly sacked manager after she rejected sexual advances
- Woman dies after car crashes into wall in Thornbury
Bristol sixth-former becomes one of country’s youngest councillors
