At Unclaimed Estates, we can help or advise on unclaimed estates or put you in touch with professional probate genealogists who can research the family tree of the deceased for you in order to find entitled relatives (for a fee). You may prefer to make your own claim yourself of course.
Estate values are never revealed by the government legal department prior to a claim being admitted through their Bona Vacantia division.
People often lose touch with their relatives or are unaware of the existence of relative that has died so it could be possible that there's an unclaimed inheritance that you are entitled to.
If you recognise a name on the unclaimed estates website you could be entitled to an inheritance, but necessary proof will be required.
Unclaimed Estate’s is a free website that allows you unlimited access.
You can search for as many names as you like, so if you have already researched some of your family tree, you can enter any of the names in your tree to see if their is an unclaimed inheritance you could be entitled to.
In the UK in the event that a person dies intestate - without leaving a will - it is not always clear who should inherit the deceased's estate and assets.
If the deceased's next of kin are unknown and cannot be traced then eventually the estate will pass to the Crown. Before this, however, these estates are advertised online in the hope that an entitled relative or relatives maybe see the online notice.
The list of Unclaimed Estates is also known as the list of ”Bona Vacantia” estates, translated from Latin to mean vacant goods. This is where all English & Welsh Unclaimed Estates are published.
Unclaimed Estate values are not published alongside the estate.
The value of unclaimed inheritance available from an estate can range from a £500 up into the hundreds of thousands on a case by case basis.
The vast majority of advertised cases are of low value so be careful about how much is spent on your claim! Some professional probate research firms (such as Finders International who own and operate this website), will work on a no success/no fee basis, quoted as a percentage of the final sum due to each heir.
If you are an entitled heir to an estate you will receive the amount defined by English & Welsh Intestacy Law.
For more information and articles of interest, please read our blog.
Please note we have no affiliation with the BBC 'Heir Hunters' series or the Government Legal Department Bona Vacantia Division.