Plain-English guides to searching the Bona Vacantia list, understanding who can claim an unclaimed estate, and gathering the evidence you need.
A step-by-step guide to searching the UK Bona Vacantia list of unclaimed estates — what it is, who manages it, and how to find estates that may belong to your family.
Read guide →
A plain-English explanation of the intestacy rules that govern who inherits when someone dies without a will in England and Wales — and how these rules determine who can claim a Bona Vacantia estate.
Read guide →
A practical checklist of the documents you need to gather to support a Bona Vacantia estate claim in England and Wales — birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, and more.
Read guide →
A realistic guide to the timescales involved in making a Bona Vacantia estate claim — from initial enquiry through to payment, and the factors that can speed up or slow down the process.
Read guide →
Find out who is legally entitled to claim a Bona Vacantia unclaimed estate in England and Wales — the family relationships that qualify, the order of priority, and the time limits that apply.
Read guide →
You do not always need a solicitor to claim a Bona Vacantia estate — but for complex cases, professional help can be invaluable. This guide explains when to go it alone and when to seek legal advice.
Read guide →
A step-by-step guide to ordering birth, marriage, and death certificates from the General Register Office (GRO) in England and Wales — what you need, how much it costs, and what to do when records are hard to find.
Read guide →
Ready to search? FindMyLegacy lets you search the full UK unclaimed estates list with phonetic matching — catching spelling variations the official site misses.
Search for free →