Unclaimed estates Wirral June 2023: You could be sitting on a fortune if you have one of these 16 surnames

If you have one of these surnames, you could be about to find yourself better off after the Treasury released its updated list of unclaimed estates in Wirral. An unclaimed estate happens when someone has passed away without having an effective will in place, with no family coming forward to make a claim.

It means the deceased’s property will become “ownerless property” and will therefore be in possession of the Crown. But 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 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.

Here is the most recent list of unclaimed estates in Wirral and how to make a claim.

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 following order of priority:

• 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.

Surnames of the unclaimed properties linked to Wirral

1. Birch
2. Bird
3. Fallowfield
4. Flynn
5. Goulding
6. Hoare
7. King
8. Montigo
9. Morris
10. Owen
11. Perry
12. Pickles
13. Price
14. Smith
15. Vandyke
16. Wilson

How to claim an unclaimed estate

Anyone who believes they might be entitled to a share of an unclaimed estate should contact the Treasury on the Government website.