If you have one of these surnames, you could be the heir to one of the Treasury’s 45 unclaimed estates in Sheffield. The estate goes unclaimed when a person dies without a valid will and no heirs come forward to claim their inheritance. When this happens, the deceased’s property becomes ‘ownerless property,’ and the Crown assumes ownership. If family members believe they are entitled to a share of the deceased’s property, they have a 12-year period after the Crown takes control of the estate to come forward. If the claim is filed after the 12-year period has expired, the Treasury will accept claims for up to 30 years from the date of death, with no interest paid on the money retained. An unclaimed estate, according to the Treasury, might be any form of property, including buildings, money, or personal possessions. Therefore, if someone dies without leaving a valid or effective will, the following relatives are entitled to the estate in the order shown below: In this case, if you are a first cousin of the deceased, you would be entitled to share in the estate if there are no relatives above you in the order of entitlement, for example, a niece or a nephew. You can find the estates left unclaimed belonging to people who were born or died in Sheffield, in the table below: Please visit the Government website to make your claim or find out more information about the deceased.
