Common questions about unclaimed estates, intestacy law, and how FindMyLegacy works.
Bona Vacantia is a Latin term meaning "ownerless goods". In England and Wales, when a person dies without a valid will and no entitled relatives come forward to claim their estate, the estate passes to the Crown as bona vacantia.
The Government Legal Department (GLD) publishes a list of these unclaimed estates. FindMyLegacy lets you search that list — with phonetic matching to catch spelling variations the official site misses.
There are typically several thousand active estates on the list at any one time. New estates are added regularly — usually fortnightly — as they are referred to the Crown. FindMyLegacy sends you an email alert as soon as a new estate matching your watchlist surnames appears.
The GLD list covers England and Wales. Scotland has a separate process administered by the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer (KLTR). Northern Ireland has its own equivalent process. FindMyLegacy currently searches the England and Wales list only.
The GLD publishes only the information it has been able to verify at the time of listing. For some estates — particularly older ones or those where the person lived alone — the GLD may not have been able to confirm a forename or precise date of death. More details may become available as the investigation progresses.
Entitlement is governed by the intestacy rules under the Administration of Estates Act 1925. The hierarchy of entitled relatives runs: spouse or civil partner, then children, then parents, then siblings, then half-siblings, then grandparents, then uncles and aunts (and their children, i.e. your first cousins), then half-uncles and half-aunts.
If none of these relatives exist, the estate passes to the Crown. Cohabiting partners, stepchildren (unless adopted), and friends have no automatic entitlement.
First cousins are entitled under the intestacy rules, but only if the deceased left no closer relatives. Second cousins and more distant relatives are not within the legal hierarchy, though the Crown has a discretion to make ex-gratia payments in exceptional circumstances. If you are a first cousin, it is worth making an enquiry — many Bona Vacantia estates are claimed by cousins.
Yes. Entitlement under the intestacy rules is based on legal family relationship, not the quality of that relationship. Being estranged from the deceased does not affect your legal entitlement. You will still need to provide documentary evidence of the family connection.
It is possible, but uncommon. An estate can appear on the BV list if the will was declared invalid, if the will did not dispose of all the assets, or if all the named beneficiaries predeceased the testator. It may also appear if the will has simply not yet been found or acted upon.
Possibly. The rules are complex and depend on the type of asset and where the deceased was domiciled. For UK property or bank accounts belonging to someone who was domiciled in England and Wales, the English intestacy rules generally apply. For other situations, legal advice is recommended.
The first step is to identify the estate on the Bona Vacantia list and confirm that the details match the person you believe to be your relative. Note the BV reference number.
Then contact the Government Legal Department's bona vacantia team, quoting the BV reference and explaining your relationship. They will confirm whether an investigation is underway and what you need to provide.
While you wait for their response, start gathering documentary evidence — birth, death, and marriage certificates for yourself and the connecting relatives in your family tree.
At minimum, you need to prove who you are (your birth certificate and photo ID) and prove the family relationship connecting you to the deceased (birth, marriage, and death certificates for each link in the chain). The further you are from the deceased in the family tree, the more documents you will need. See our guide to documents for a full checklist.
There is no time limit for a spouse, civil partner, or child. For more distant relatives, the GLD generally considers claims for up to 12 years after the estate was referred to the Crown. After that, funds may be paid into the National Purse — though a claim can technically still be made within 30 years of the date of death.
There is no legal requirement to use a solicitor. Many people handle straightforward claims themselves. However, for complex cases — large estates, complicated family trees, or multiple potential claimants — professional legal advice is strongly recommended. See our guide on whether you need a solicitor for more detail.
No. You are under no obligation to use an heir hunter. Ask them to provide the BV reference number so you can research the estate independently. Heir hunters typically take 20–40% commission on any inheritance. FindMyLegacy takes no commission — we simply help you find and research potential matches.
It varies widely — from a few months for simple, well-documented cases to several years for complex ones. The main factors are the complexity of the family tree, the availability of records, and whether other claimants come forward. See our guide on claim timelines for a full breakdown of the stages involved.
Yes — searching the Bona Vacantia list, adding surnames to your watchlist, and receiving email alerts are all free. Premium features — including unlimited research cases and continued AI assistant access beyond the 30-day trial — are available by subscription for £4.99/month or £49.99/year.
No. FindMyLegacy never takes a percentage of any inheritance. We charge a flat subscription for premium features, not a commission on outcomes. We believe everyone should be able to research their own family history without sharing the proceeds with a third party.
When you search for a surname, FindMyLegacy also searches for surnames that sound similar using the Double Metaphone algorithm. This catches common spelling variations — for example, a search for "Smith" will also return "Smithe" or "Smythe". Phonetic results are shown separately from exact matches and carry a "sounds like" badge so you can see why they were included.
The Government Legal Department publishes updates to the Bona Vacantia list approximately fortnightly. FindMyLegacy checks for new estates daily. When a new estate matches a surname on your watchlist, you will receive an email alert within 24 hours.
The AI assistant can answer questions about the Bona Vacantia list, intestacy law, the claims process, and what documents you might need. It is powered by Claude and is available to all users during the 30-day free trial, and to premium subscribers thereafter. It is not a substitute for legal advice.
You can delete your account from the Account page. This will permanently remove all your data — your watchlist, cases, notes, and personal information. The deletion is immediate and cannot be undone.