The Treasury has released its September 2023 list of every estate that you could be entitled to if you have one of 115 surnames. An unclaimed estate is when someone has died without having an effective will in place, and no family comes forward to claim their estate.

When this happens, the deceased’s property becomes ‘ownerless property’ and is taken into possession by the Crown. However, within a 12-year period from when the Crown possesses the estate, family members can come forward if they believe they are entitled to a share of the deceased’s relative’s property.

For unclaimed estates before 1997, the Treasury will allow claims up to 30 years from the date of the person’s death, subject to no interest being paid on the money that is held - if the claim is received after the 12-year period has ended.

An unclaimed estate, according to the Treasury, might be any form of property, including buildings, money, or personal possessions. There are currently 115 unclaimed estates that belonged to people who died in Leeds.

Who is entitled to an unclaimed estate?

If someone dies without leaving a valid or effective will the following relatives are entitled to the estate in the order shown below:

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

If you are, for example, a first cousin of the deceased, you would only be entitled to share in the estate if there are no relatives above you in the order of entitlement, for example, a niece or nephew. Visit the Government website to make your claim or find out more information about the deceased.

Names of the unclaimed estates in Leeds

Barker

Burton

Davis

Devlin

Kruger

Taylor

Cooke

Arnold

Avalon

Beaumont

Belaj

Birkett

Browne

Bryll

Burnham

Carter

Catton

Clifford

Cooke

Crawley

Czepello

Czyz

Davies

Dingle

Dolan

Duggan

Dzenis

Eddon

Ellis

Ellis

Fay

Fiscor

Fletcher

Garnett

Gilmore

Gilroy

Goodwin

Habshaw

Hammond

Hart

Hartley

Henderson

Higgins

Holdsworth

Howden

Hudson

Hurcombe

Isaacs

James

Jones

Jones

Jones

Jones

Karklinis

Kmet

Kutkevicius

Landy

Lewis

Lonsborough

Love

Mann

McBride

McDermott

McKean

McLaren

Miskiw

Moore

Morris

Mullan

Mullen

Murphy

Murray

Murray

O'Brien

O'Hosi

O'Shea

O'Sullivan

Podola

Pollitt

Pylypenko

Raudsepp

Rhodes

Robinson

Rooney

Routledge

Samuel

Scarth

Scott

Sheriden

Singh

Smith

Smith

Smith

Stewart

Stinson

Svetovio

Szostak

Taylor

Taylor

Thompson

Todd

Voulgaris

Vukotic

Walton

Watson

Whelan

Wilcox

Williams

Winfield

Winter

Wood

Yusuff

Zlobicki

Jackson-Ward

Majczak