Unclaimed estates and bona vacantia: how to check the list and make a claim
How the unclaimed estates list on GOV.UK works, who can claim a bona vacantia estate, the evidence and time limits, and what to check with an heir hunter.
What does bona vacantia mean for a person's estate?
Bona vacantia is the legal term for ownerless property, and a person's estate becomes bona vacantia when they die without a valid will and without any relative who is entitled to inherit, at which point the law passes it to the Crown. GOV.UK notes that this can include buildings and possessions as well as money.
Whether anyone is entitled depends on the intestacy rules, which set a fixed order of relatives running from a spouse or civil partner down to half-uncles and half-aunts and their descendants. Only when that order runs out does the estate fall to the Crown, so an estate with even one first cousin who outlived the person is not bona vacantia at all. Our guide to intestacy rules and who inherits when there is no will explains how the shares are divided when relatives do survive.
The Crown's claim also usually depends on there being no valid will, and the Bona Vacantia Division cannot accept a referral where there is one. If a will turns up after an estate has been referred or listed, tell whichever body is dealing with it straight away and take legal advice, because a valid will may mean the estate is not bona vacantia at all. Our guide to finding a will when you cannot find the original covers where to search.
Who deals with unclaimed estates in England and Wales?
For most of England and Wales the Bona Vacantia Division of the Government Legal Department collects unclaimed estates for the Crown, and it only accepts estates worth £500 or more once funeral expenses and known debts are taken into account. Estates of people who lived in the County Palatine of Lancaster, which the Duchies' solicitors describe as largely Lancashire and parts of Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Cumbria, go to the Duchy of Lancaster instead, whilst those of people who lived in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly go to the Duchy of Cornwall. A firm of solicitors handles both Duchies' estates and offers a postcode checker, and GOV.UK's page on who to contact gives its details alongside those for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Duchy of Cornwall describes its procedures as very similar to the Division's, and the Duchies' solicitors ask that you do not send a claim until they have confirmed the estate has been referred to them. Where nobody claims, each Duchy passes the money to its own charitable fund.
This guide goes deeper on the estates list and the claims process, whilst our wider guide to unclaimed money from deceased relatives covers dormant accounts and the other places money can sit forgotten after a death.
How do you search the unclaimed estates list?
You download the unclaimed estates list from GOV.UK as a CSV file and open it in a spreadsheet program, where you can sort or filter it by surname. Each row shows only a case reference, the person's forename and surname, their date of death and the place they died. The page's update history shows new versions being posted several times a week, so it is worth downloading a fresh copy each time you look.
The Division took the list down in July 2025 after allegations of fraud in the probate system, and when it returned on 12 January 2026, GOV.UK explained that a review had found no evidence the list was the source of fraud but that the data would be restricted to the name, date of death, area of death and case reference. Without dates of birth a common name can match several people, so it is sensible to check the date and place of death against the death certificate or what the family knows. GOV.UK also warns that copies of the list on other websites may not be accurate or up to date.
When the Division takes on an estate's administration it publishes a notice in The Gazette, where you can search unclaimed estates notices under notice code 2904.
If the person is not on the list, GOV.UK says the Division is probably not dealing with their estate, perhaps because relatives were known or the estate fell outside its remit. It suggests contacting whoever registered the death, or the council where the person died, which may have arranged the funeral, and searching probate records and the Gazette's estate notices.
Who can claim an unclaimed estate?
You can claim if you descend from one of the person's grandparents and nobody higher in the order below survived them. The Division's guidance on making a claim to a deceased person's estate sets out the order as follows:
Husband, wife or civil partner
Children or their descendants
Mother or father
Brothers or sisters, or their descendants
Half-brothers or half-sisters, or their descendants
Grandparents
Uncles and aunts, or their descendants (first cousins)
Half-uncles and half-aunts, or their descendants
"Half" means sharing only one parent or grandparent. Second cousins, who are related through a great-grandparent, are not entitled, and nor are relatives by marriage. An adopted person is treated as a child of their adoptive family and generally loses inheritance rights in their birth family. If an entitled relative was alive when the person died but has died since, that relative's personal representative can claim their share.
Not every relative needs to claim separately, because once the Division has accepted one claim the administrator has to distribute the estate to everyone who is entitled.
What evidence does a bona vacantia claim need?
The first step is a family tree rather than a stack of certificates. You email it to the Division at [email protected] with full names and dates of birth, marriage and death for everyone on it, and if you appear to be entitled the Division then asks for evidence. It does not carry out or help with genealogy research, so the tree has to come from you.
The evidence may include:
full birth certificates showing parents' names, and marriage certificates, for everyone between you and the person who died
a written explanation, with evidence, of any discrepancies or missing documents
two separate identity documents, one proving your name and one linking your name to your address
copies of the actual census returns or 1939 Register entries, rather than online transcripts
Certificates must be paper certified copies, because the Division does not accept PDF certificates downloaded from the General Register Office, and anything not in English needs a certified translation. Scanned documents go to [email protected] with the BV reference and the person's name, and originals should not be posted with a first submission. Certificates are ordered at your own risk and the cost is not refunded if the claim fails, which is a good reason to send the family tree first and order only what the Division asks for.
Is there a time limit for claiming an unclaimed estate?
Yes. The Division generally accepts claims made within 12 years of the date the administration of the estate was completed, and pays interest on the money it has held. After that it may still accept a fully documented claim up to 30 years from the date of death, without interest, but it will not accept any claim, or missing documents for an incomplete one, after 30 years.
Some estates on the list were referred recently and have not been administered yet. The Division has said that once evidence shows there is no Crown interest in such an estate it returns the papers to whoever referred it, so the estate is then dealt with in the ordinary way, which, where there is no will, means the closest living relative can apply for letters of administration. Our guide to letters of administration explains how that works.
Can you apply if you are not a relative?
You can ask for a discretionary grant if you could have expected to benefit from the estate, even though you have no legal entitlement. GOV.UK's page on grants from a deceased person's estate gives examples such as someone who lived with the person as a partner or friend without being married to them, someone who gave unpaid help with daily life that the person would otherwise have paid for, and a charity that cared for them at considerable expense.
For an estate the Division holds, you email [email protected] or phone 020 7210 4700, say that you are asking for a discretionary grant and include as much supporting information as you can, such as letters showing the relationship or records of the care you gave. The Duchies may also make discretionary payments to people who are not entitled to claim.
Should you use an heir hunter?
You do not have to, because the list is public and the Division deals directly with relatives, although some families use one when a family tree is hard to piece together. The Division describes genealogists, as it calls them, as private companies that trace possible relatives for commercial gain and do not work for it, and it says that using one is your choice. A solicitor writing in The Gazette's guide to claiming an unclaimed estate notes that they usually take a percentage of the estate as a finder's fee when successful.
If a firm writes to you, take your time before signing anything. You can search the GOV.UK list yourself, since the firm may have found the name there, and ask for the percentage, any extra charges and whether the fee comes out of your share. Independent legal advice is sensible where the sums are large, and if another relative's claim has already been accepted, the administrator has a legal duty to pay everyone entitled.
Inheritance scams are a different thing altogether. Report Fraud's guidance on inheritance fraud describes fraudsters posing as overseas lawyers or officials who say that someone with your surname has died, press for secrecy and speed, and then ask for fees or bank details before any money can be released. Report Fraud replaced Action Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland on 4 December 2025 and can be reached on 0300 123 2040, whilst in Scotland you report fraud to Police Scotland on 101.
How does it work in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
In Scotland the Crown is the ultimus haeres, or ultimate heir, of someone who dies without a will or relatives. The death is reported to the National Ultimus Haeres Unit, part of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, which refers the estate to the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer (KLTR) if no will or heirs are found and the estate can pay its debts. KLTR lists estates on its Find an estate search, and relatives claim by proving their succession, although KLTR cannot trace relatives or give legal advice. Its published policy is that it normally accepts no claim after the later of 20 years from the death or two years after administration ends, and that it pays no interest. Separately, a cohabitant can ask the court for provision from the estate under section 29 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 within six months of the death, a limit that legislation extends to 12 months from 14 December 2026.
In Northern Ireland, unclaimed estates are dealt with by the Crown Solicitor's Office for Northern Ireland, which GOV.UK lists on 028 9054 6037.
What to do next
Download a fresh copy of the unclaimed estates list from GOV.UK and check the name, date of death and place of death against what you know.
If the person lived within either Duchy, in Scotland or in Northern Ireland, contact the body GOV.UK lists for that area instead.
Email the Division a family tree with every date you have, then order paper certified copies of only the certificates it asks for.
If an heir hunter writes to you, check the list yourself and read the whole agreement before signing.
If you end up administering the estate, start a list of the person's accounts and debts straight away.
A successful claim on an estate that has not yet been administered can leave a relative responsible for the affairs of someone they barely knew, with little or no paperwork to show where the person banked or what they owed. Our guide to finding the bank accounts of someone who has died sets out where to start, and if the trail runs cold, Legacy Trail's Account Discovery Service searches for accounts the family does not know about and then notifies each provider on your behalf.
Frequently asked questions
You can if you are an entitled relative, which in England and Wales means descending from one of the person's grandparents with nobody above you in the order of entitlement having survived them. You start by emailing a family tree to the Bona Vacantia Division, which asks for certificates and identity documents if you appear to be entitled. Someone with no legal entitlement, such as an unmarried partner or an unpaid carer, can ask for a discretionary grant instead.
For estates referred to the Crown in England and Wales, download the unclaimed estates list from GOV.UK and search it by surname. Scotland has its own Find an estate search on the KLTR website, and GOV.UK lists separate contacts for the two Duchies and for Northern Ireland. Money left in forgotten accounts is a different question, with its own tracing routes.
In England and Wales the Bona Vacantia Division generally accepts claims within 12 years of the estate's administration being completed, with interest on the money held. A fully documented claim can still be accepted up to 30 years after the death, without interest, but nothing is accepted after that. In Scotland, KLTR normally accepts no claim after the later of 20 years from the death or two years after administration ends.
The terms are set in the agreement each firm asks you to sign, and a solicitor writing for The Gazette says the usual arrangement is a percentage of the estate, taken if a claim succeeds. Before agreeing, get the percentage and any extra charges in writing and check whether the fee comes out of your share. You are free to claim directly from the Bona Vacantia Division without one.
Estates of people who lived in the County Palatine of Lancaster go to the Duchy of Lancaster, and those of people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly go to the Duchy of Cornwall, rather than to the Bona Vacantia Division. Solicitors acting for the Duchies handle both, and their contact details are on GOV.UK. Each Duchy may make discretionary payments and passes what is left to its own charitable fund.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.