List of 24 unclaimed estates in Sunderland that you could inherit if you have these surnames - how to claim

The treasury has updated a list of all of the unclaimed estates in Sunderland for June 2023. This means that if you share a surname with one of the people on the list, you could be entitled to some money.

An unclaimed estate is when someone dies without leaving a will, or when an old will is in place and the beneficiaries have died. When this happens, and there is no one to directly claim their possessions, the property is deemed ‘ownerless’.

It is then possessed by the Crown. And, from when the Crown possesses the estate, a 12-year window opens up where family members can come forward if they believe they’re entitled.

When claiming an estate, there is an order of priority, based on how close of a relative you are to the person whose estate is in question. Immediately relatives, such as spouses or civil partners have top priority.

This who can claim an estate, in order:

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

How to claim an unclaimed estate

Anyone who believes they might be entitled to a share of an unclaimed estate should contact The Treasury on the government website.