List of 20 unclaimed estates in Sunderland that you could inherit if you have these surnames - how to claim

The government’s legal department regularly updates its list of available inheritances, and there are currently 20 on there with links to Sunderland and East Durham.

An unclaimed estate makes the list when someone passes away without having an effective will in place, and no family comes forward to claim their estate.

The deceased person’s property becomes ‘ownerless property’ and transfers to the possession of the Crown, but relations can come forward within 30 years if they believe they are entitled to a share.

The Treasury handles unclaimed estates.

No interest will be paid on the inherited estate unless it is claimed within 12 years.

Who is entitled to an unclaimed estate?

The law permits claims to be made on the basis oif how closely a person was related to the deceased.

If someone dies without leaving a valid or effective will then relations, in the following order of priority, can make a claim:

1 – Husband, wife, or civil partner;

2 – Children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on;

3 – Mother or father;

4 – Brothers and sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews);

5 – Half brothers and sisters, or their children (nieces and nephews of the half blood or their children), with ‘half ’ meaning 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), with ‘half’ meaning they only share one grandparent with the deceased, not both.

Surnames associated with unclaimed estates in Sunderland and the associated date of death:

Andrews 10.7.2011

Bray 6.6.2019

Burnhope 18.3 1996

Clark 5.9.2019

Clark 24.3.2016

Clarke 21.09.2002

Conway 29.10.2001

Dixon 20.01.1995

Elliott 25.10.1993

Haylett 29.01.2001

Homer 27.07.2001

Humphrey 30.07.1995

Isaacs 01.11.1999

Johnson 09.01.1997

Marsh 14.12.2006

Melton 12.02.2018

Melville 24.04.1998

Moran 05.12.2007

Potts 23.07.2000

Ross 24.03.22

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