Unclaimed Estates in Birmingham

Unclaimed Estates in Birmingham are on the rise in 2019 with 28 new cases of unclaimed estates in the UK’s second capital according to Birmingham Mail. Figures suggest there are over 700 unclaimed estates in Birmingham yet to be claimed before they will pass over to the crown. This means there are potentially 700 individuals with family connections to the Birmingham area who are entitled to the estate of a relative they may not have known.

Details on the value of unclaimed estates are withheld with cases able to be tracked on a number of criteria including name, location and dates of both birth and death.

Unclaimed Estates List

Unclaimed estates are left behind by individuals who don’t make a will prior to their death. These cases are named Bona Vacantia - the Latin translation of vacant goods, as they have no known owner.

All assets of an unclaimed estate are held by the treasury for a maximum of 30 years giving time for a relative to be located and their entitlement evaluated. View the unclaimed estates list to see if you are an entitled relative.

There are a number of possible reasons unclaimed estates can exist. Many people have little or no close family and feel there is no point in them making a will or they have no one to make one too. Other cases often occur in younger people who may have died unexpectedly and have yet to make a will.

Who is Entitled to an Unclaimed Estate?

When an unclaimed estate is added to the list it is often the job of companies such as Finders International to locate relatives. With every estate, it is important to locate all potential relatives with a claim to the case.

The first people entitled to the estate of a person who has died without a will are husbands, wives and civil partners of the deceased. The next tier of entitlement to an estate passes through children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on through a family tree. Naturally, the closer the connection to the deceased relative, the stronger a case to claim any assets.

If no direct descendants can be found, entitlement passes to parents and then siblings of the deceased.

Danny Curran, Managing Director of Finders International claims “These estates are waiting to be claimed from the government, who are sitting on the fortunes of over ten thousand people across the UK.”

If you find a name on the Bona Vacantia List which you may be an entitled relative of, contact a member of our team who can discuss the process of proving your claim.