Unclaimed estates in Wales: is your surname on the list?

There are 19 estates in Gwent just waiting for someone to claim them.

Estates are left unclaimed when a person dies without making a will - and some of them can be worth a lot of money.

HM Treasury takes care of people’s homes and estates when there isn’t a will or no named next-of-kin.

The government then produces a spreadsheet, which is updated daily, showing which legacies remain unclaimed.

These inheritances can then be snapped up by remaining family members.

Many of the names have been on the list for a long time and the majority of unclaimed estates are believed to be people who have died alone or were, spinsters, widows, bachelors or single people.

So, take a look at the table below and check if your forename is included.

If your surname is on the list, it’s worth inspecting your family tree to see if any of the estates could have belonged to a relative.

Claims will be accepted within 12 years from the date the administration of the estate was completed and interest will be paid on the money held.

You can download the full data sheet and look elsewhere in the UK here.

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Am I entitled to claim for an estate?

If someone dies without leaving a valid or effective will (intestate) the following are 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 are, for example, a first cousin of the deceased, you would only be entitled to share in the estate if there are no relatives above you in the order of entitlement, for example, a niece or nephew.

For more information, click here.