EARLIER this month, the government updated their list of unclaimed estates in the UK- and seven of them are in East Lancashire.

An estate is classed as unclaimed when a person without a will or any known relatives passes away- their property, money and personal possessions are then passed onto the Crown.

These estates could be worth pennies, or they could be worth millions- you can never be sure until you enquire.

According to research by property developer, StripeHomes, there is an estimated £1.744bn worth of unclaimed property lying vacant across England and Wales.

Unclaimed estates in the North West account for 3% of all of them and there is an estimated £44,113,062 worth of unclaimed estates in the region.

Here are all of the unclaimed estates from people who were either born or died in East Lancashire- do you recognise any of the names?

Who is entitled to an estate?

You might be entitled to one of these estates and not even know it, as even distant relatives are eligible to claim them.

Managing Director of StripeHomes, James Forrester, said that this could be one unexpected way to get your foot on the property ladder- especially if the deceased has an unclaimed house.

He adds: It makes for quite depressing reading when you consider the struggle many are facing to secure a property of their own while such a substantial value of bricks and mortar is currently left tangled in red tape, only for the Government to take control of it after 30 years. 

“While procedures need to be followed to ensure anyone with a legitimate claim has the right to do so, 30 years seems a very long time to leave an estate lingering in limbo when it could be contributing positively to the current housing crisis.”

If someone passes away without leaving a will, certain people are still entitled to the estate in the order shown below:
 

  1. husband, wife or civil partner
  2. children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on
  3. mother or father
  4. brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews)
  5. half brothers or sisters or their children (nieces and nephews of the half blood or their children). ‘Half ’ means they share only one parent with the deceased
  6. grandparents
  7. uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants)
  8. half uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins of the half blood or their children). ‘Half’ means they only share one grandparent with the deceased, not both.

    If you think you are eligible to make a claim to a deceased person’s estate, you can do so at the following Government link.