If your surname is included, you might be in the money: 26 unclaimed estates in Bedford revealed

The Treasury has revealed details of the 26 unclaimed estates of people who died in Bedford – with hundreds of thousands of pounds of inheritance sat in limbo until the rightful heir is found.

The latest Treasury list provides details of almost 6,500 unclaimed estates across the UK – with combined assets possibly running into nine-figures.

Unclaimed estates occur when there is no will – or the beneficiaries of the will cannot be traced – and the next family member, following the rules of intestacy, cannot be found.

The Treasury only advertises estates with a net value of £500 or above.

The surnames of deceased people in Bedford where estates are unclaimed are:

Bent-Wilson

Bider

Bontscheff

Brown

Cohn

Davis

English

Evans

Farkasch

Feeney

Gilbert

Kobylanski

Kozlica

Lilley

Litwinczuk

Malik

Mike

Pedorczenko

Purins

Sadler

Strachan

Strods

Sulcs

Testa

Toborek

White

If no relative can be found within 12 years, the dormant estate becomes the property of the Crown, though it is still possible to make a claim if you are legitimately entitled.

Craig Ridge, head of contentious probate at law firm Higgs LLP, said claiming an estate is a straightforward process.

He said: “Should you believe you are entitled to an estate, and there is a will, it’s sometimes as simple as writing to the executors of the will and they will do everything for you from that point. If the executors do not respond, there are other things you can do but you may need some advice on how to go about it.”

If there is no valid will, then there is an order of priority as to who can apply to administer the estate, starting with any spouse of the deceased. Entitlement to the estate in these situations is then governed by the rules of intestacy which follow a strict order.

Craig added: “If you know someone has died and you believe you might have been left something, then you can simply search the probate records, or set up an alert for yourself, so that you know who to contact when the estate is dealt with.”

Visit here for more details on how to make a claim