List of 33 unclaimed estates in Greater Manchester that you could inherit if you have these surnames

The Treasury has released a list of unclaimed estates in Manchester, meaning that if you have one of the surnames below there could be an inheritance just waiting for you. These unclaimed estates have been left by a person after they have died without having a will in place and no family has come forward to claim.

The estates are also not necessarily property or land. They can be sums of money, left untouched following a person’s death.

The Treasury has said that claims will be accepted within, generally, 12 years from the date that the administration of the estate was completed and interest will be paid on the money held.

However, they admitted fully documented claims up to 30 years from the date of death, subject to no interest being paid on the money held, if the claim is received after the 12 year period above has run out.

Who is eligible to claim?

The Treasury provides information on who is eligible to claim any of the estates on the list. There must be at least some family links in order to make a claim.

• If someone dies without leaving a valid or effective will (intestate) the following are entitled to the estate in the order shown below:
• husband, wife or civil partner
• children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on
• mother or father
• brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews)
• 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
• grandparents
• uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants)
• 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.

If your relationship to the deceased is traced through someone who survived the deceased but has since died, you will need to confirm who is entitled to deal with that person’s estate. The person entitled to deal with someone’s estate is known as their ‘legal personal representative’.

Full list of unclaimed estates in Greater Manchester

How to claim

If you wish to make a claim on an estate in the region, visit the government website for more information.