Reported on Leeds Live is an article detailing estates within Leeds are which are 'unclaimed' and raises the wider issue of the number of estates across the country which are unclaimed.
When a person dies without a Will and the beneficiaries can not be traced, the estate is referred to the Treasury Solicitor to administer the estate. The Bona Vacantia division of the Government Legal Department holds a list of all the unclaimed estates and you might have seen TV programmes showing the process taken to trace a possible beneficiary and reunite them with assets that they never knew they were entitled to.
Of course, these situations could be prevented by individuals putting in place a Will to deal with the distribution of their estate on death. Sometimes, amazingly, people think they have nothing to leave, but the reality is that the majority of us have some form of assets to pass on death, even if you only have a nominal income and a mortgage on your house, and it is important that you properly record, by way of a Will, how these assets are to pass on your death.
Link to related article: www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/53-unclaimed-estates-leeds-check-17216683
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