Unclaimed estates in Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham

According to recent data from the Treasury, there are currently 316 unclaimed estates in south east London, including the boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark.

Unclaimed estates happen when a person passes away without leaving a will and there are no apparent family members to claim the inheritance.

In these situations, estates are held on a list to be claimed, with a 12-year deadline from the date the estate was taken into possession by the Crown.

The south east London borough with the highest number of unclaimed estates is Southwark, with a total of 128 unclaimed estates, this was followed by Lewisham with 108, Greenwich with 36, Bromley with 33 and finally Bexley with 11.

You could be entitled to a fortune, see our search tool below to find all the unclaimed estates in your borough:

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

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

Who is entitled?

Below is a list of all the people that are entitled to claim an unclaimed estate:

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