The 25 surnames attached to unclaimed estates with Northumberland links

The government’s legal department regularly updates its list of available inheritances, and there are currently 25 on there with links to Northumberland.

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.

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

Who is entitled to an unclaimed estate?

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 Northumberland and the associated date of death:

Barnes, 29/09/1998

Blackmore, 02/03/2011

Brigham, 09/09/2020

Carroll, 12/09/2007

Chan, 12/05/2018

Cowen, 04/10/2010

Gomez, 02/10/2012

Griffiths, 13/08/1998

Henderson, 26/10/2010

Hogan, 18/04/2022

McGilvey, 12/11/1999

Moor, 11/05/1993

Murphy, 15/05/1997

O’Brien, 05/04/1993

Petruczek, 12/02/2019

Pollard, 21/10/2009

Roy, 16/03/2003

Ryan, 10/01/1994

Simpson, 07/07/2003

Sisterson, 08/09/2018

Stewart, 08/10/2005

Thompson, 19/01/2018

Thompson, 16/10/2004

Thornton, 04/03/1999

Wade, 04/12/2011

How to claim an unclaimed estate

Information on how to make a claim can be found on the government website.

A full list of the unclaimed estates can be found here.