Do you have one of these surnames? Details revealed of more than 30 unclaimed estates of people who have died in Eastbourne
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The latest Treasury List provides details of almost 6,500 unclaimed estates across the UK.
Unclaimed estates, classed as ‘ownerless property’, occur when there is no will – or the beneficiaries of the will cannot be traced - and the next family member, following the rules of intestacy, cannot be found.
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Hide AdThe surnames of deceased people in Eastbourne where estates are unclaimed are: Whitehead, Rajput, Allen, Armstrong, Barker, Breslini, Castle, Davies, De Souza, Donovan, Gallagher, Hall, Hertelendy, Horowitz, Ignatowicz, Kanda, Koleszar, Lee-Ying, Lowe, Lucey, McKenna, Megrah, Moon, O'Connor, Pillinger, Pratt, Russell, Ryan, Schulz, Silverthorn and Tippen.
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 you are legitimately entitled.
If there is no valid will then there is an order of priority as to who can apply to administer the estate, starting with any spouse of the deceased. Entitlement to the estate in these situations is then governed by the rules of intestacy which follow a strict order.
Head of contentious probate at law firm Higgs LLP Craig Ridge said: “If you know someone has died and you believe you might have been left something, then you can simply search the probate records, or set up an alert for yourself, so that you know who to contact when the estate is dealt with.
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Hide Ad“If there is a will, for a nominal fee you can get a copy of that will together with the Grant of Probate which will give you contact details for the executors. If there is 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 also be worth checking the Treasury List to see if the estate is unclaimed.”