keitha
Member of DD Central
2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
Posts: 4,582
Likes: 2,615
|
Post by keitha on Jul 12, 2024 10:35:00 GMT
|
|
adrianc
Member of DD Central
Posts: 9,978 
Likes: 5,131
|
Post by adrianc on Jul 12, 2024 10:45:52 GMT
Just in case what? Somebody who might share a surname with you or family members?
It's one thing if you've got a very unusual surname, but a large proportion of us (kinda by definition) don't.
Just looking down that list, d'you think "Merlin Mythwytch" might not have been on his birth certificate?
|
|
keitha
Member of DD Central
2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
Posts: 4,582
Likes: 2,615
|
Post by keitha on Jul 12, 2024 11:29:37 GMT
192.com says 2 people with that name in UK
LOL one of the addresses has a previous occupant of Drasonlord Drasonlord ( Of course he could have changed his name to Merlin Mythwytch ) as the dates would fit
|
|
littleoldlady
Member of DD Central
Running down all platforms due to age
Posts: 3,045
Likes: 1,862
|
Post by littleoldlady on Jul 15, 2024 10:40:51 GMT
Just in case what? Somebody who might share a surname with you or family members? It's one thing if you've got a very unusual surname, but a large proportion of us (kinda by definition) don't. ? Everyone has 8 great-grandparents, and for most of us that means 8 different surnames. You would be unlucky if all 8 were common. Of course many (most?) people will not know all if any of their 4 great-grandmothers' maiden names, but unless you are interested in family history and subscribe to a genealogy web site you would probably be unable to trace your connection to anyone on the list in any case.
|
|
|
|
Post by mostlywrong on Jul 15, 2024 11:00:15 GMT
I check that list regularly to see whether I am dead.
No luck so far...
MW
|
|
|
|
Post by mostlywrong on Jul 15, 2024 11:03:47 GMT
Just in case what? Somebody who might share a surname with you or family members? It's one thing if you've got a very unusual surname, but a large proportion of us (kinda by definition) don't. ? Everyone has 8 great-grandparents, and for most of us that means 8 different surnames. You would be unlucky if all 8 were common. Of course many (most?) people will not know all if any of their 4 great-grandmothers' maiden names, but unless you are interested in family history and subscribe to a genealogy web site you would probably be unable to trace your connection to anyone on the list in any case. I thought that the distribution of an estate in accordance with the laws of intestacy was based on the grandparents and then downwards.
So, only 4 names to conjure with.
Happy to be proven wrong.
Again.
MW
|
|
keitha
Member of DD Central
2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
Posts: 4,582
Likes: 2,615
|
Post by keitha on Jul 15, 2024 11:12:01 GMT
I've seen episode of heir hunters where they have gone back 4-5 generations then down the various legs looking for a living relative
|
|
|
|
Post by mostlywrong on Jul 15, 2024 11:27:51 GMT
I've seen episode of heir hunters where they have gone back 4-5 generations then down the various legs looking for a living relative That is an awful lot of research for an estate that has a value that is pure guesswork.
And how many beneficiaries could you turn up?
You could make an interesting television programme out of it though.
Oh...
MW
|
|
keitha
Member of DD Central
2024, hopefully the year I get out of P2P
Posts: 4,582
Likes: 2,615
|
Post by keitha on Jul 15, 2024 12:19:01 GMT
I've seen episode of heir hunters where they have gone back 4-5 generations then down the various legs looking for a living relative That is an awful lot of research for an estate that has a value that is pure guesswork.
And how many beneficiaries could you turn up?
You could make an interesting television programme out of it though.
Oh...
MW
Aldous Peregrine Fforbes-golightly last address on electoral register "the big house, Posh street Westminster" more likely to have a decent estate than William Williams of "Railway Terrace Merthyr" I know in my own family when people have died the relatives want funny divisions such as everyone gets the same, err no my dads share would be 1/8 ( he had 8 siblings ) divided by the 3 of us 1/21 oh but hand on X Y Z all died with no kids so actually the share is 1/5 amongst the 3 of us. the ones from the bigger families thought it unfair especially as 1 cousin gets a full 1/5 as his sibling has died. me I never asked for anything but I was grateful for what was to me a decent amount of £
|
|
spiral
Member of DD Central
Posts: 967
Likes: 486
|
Post by spiral on Jul 15, 2024 12:32:15 GMT
My mum was contacted a few years ago by an amateur heir hunter that was trying to track down my deceased father. After confirming my father was the one they were after they wanted us to sign a form giving them 15% of any proceeds acquired.
I thought that seems a lot for what I suspected was very little work (especially as I thought we knew all my dad's Aunts and Uncles) so I proceeded to trace my own family tree. I must say it was very interesting and hours in the library passed in what seemed minutes. I managed to identify all of My dad's Aunt's/Uncle's except one had living offspring including one uncle that I didn't know existed. The one I couldn't track was an Aunt who married a Jones and moved to Wales!
I even located one that had emigrated to America and using Google Streetview even located the property she lived in when she died in the 90's.
Anyway after all this I concluded that if there was an inheritance, it could only come from the one that had moved to Wales. I used the Bona Vacantia list to see if there were any likely Jones' that it could be and concluded it was a no. The most likely candidate was someone on the list with the same Surname as my Grandma's maiden name so I proceeded to trace this person's family tree. The person had a child who was still living with the mother (working in service) in the 1939 census. I could find no evidence of the daughter after this point.
After this I decided to sign the 15% form after which they came back to inform me that the person in question was not a relative. This confirmed my belief however, I was concerned that I'd basically signed a form that would enable them to process the estate on my behalf so I contacted the department responsible for the Bona Vacantia list and asked them if anyone had made a claim on my mother's behalf. To my surprise they told me they were unable to process a request that way, I needed to tell them whose estate it was and they could then confirm or deny it. This was of no help because I didn't know who the heir hunter thought was our relative. In the end I asked them and after a few toing and froing and puting my point to the body that the heir hunter was linked to, I was eventually told the person was the one with the same name as my grandmother's maiden name. I had already concluded she wasn't related so was now happy.
Just checking the list now, the name is no longer on it so the relatives must have been traced which rather surprised me because the name had been on the list for nearly 20 years at the time we were contacted. Maybe something came to light when the 1921 census became available.
|
|
|
|
Post by mostlywrong on Jul 15, 2024 14:01:04 GMT
Just checking the list now, the name is no longer on it so the relatives must have been traced which rather surprised me because the name had been on the list for nearly 20 years at the time we were contacted. Maybe something came to light when the 1921 census became available.
I think outstanding estates fall off the list after 30 years after death and the Crown, in its various guises, gets the dosh.
What I don't know is how that is recorded so that relatives/researchers can establish what happened to the estate in 50 year's time. Other than the time honoured "administration", of course.
When it is working, the probate website is a good source of family data, assuming that your relative wasn't as poor as a church mouse.
When it isn't working, you might as well look through the local telephone directory.
There is a solution to all of this: make a will and deprive keitha and mostlywrong of some entertainment...
MW
|
|
spiral
Member of DD Central
Posts: 967
Likes: 486
|
Post by spiral on Jul 15, 2024 15:52:10 GMT
I think outstanding estates fall off the list after 30 years after death and the Crown, in its various guises, gets the dosh.
That makes sense although in my mind, I seem to think the date was 1996 so it would only be 28 years. Anyone know if there are historical lists available anywhere? This has piqued my interest again.
Edit. Looking at the list, the oldest death on there is 1974. Date published is just down as "historic"
Second edit. Just found my original list from 2017 when I was doing this. The person died in 1993 (also date published was historic) so as the current list goes back to 1974, I can only assume the heirs were found and the estate distributed.
|
|
littleoldlady
Member of DD Central
Running down all platforms due to age
Posts: 3,045
Likes: 1,862
|
Post by littleoldlady on Jul 15, 2024 16:39:31 GMT
There is a solution to all of this: make a will and deprive keitha and mostlywrong of some entertainment...
MW
And remember to tell your executors where it is to be found.
|
|
|
|
Post by mostlywrong on Jul 15, 2024 16:50:31 GMT
There is a solution to all of this: make a will and deprive keitha and mostlywrong of some entertainment...
MW
And remember to tell your executors where it is to be found. Aha. Hunt the Will and all the assets...
Far more fun than reading the Bona Vacantia List!
MW
|
|
|
|
Post by mostlywrong on Jul 15, 2024 17:08:03 GMT
I think outstanding estates fall off the list after 30 years after death and the Crown, in its various guises, gets the dosh.
That makes sense although in my mind, I seem to think the date was 1996 so it would only be 28 years. Anyone know if there are historical lists available anywhere? This has piqued my interest again.
Edit. Looking at the list, the oldest death on there is 1974. Date published is just down as "historic"
Second edit. Just found my original list from 2017 when I was doing this. The person died in 1993 (also date published was historic) so as the current list goes back to 1974, I can only assume the heirs were found and the estate distributed.
You have the surname and the date of death.
If the probate website is working, then you can find the entry.
Check 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 because it takes time for the details to filter through the system.
If the estate is not listed by then, try searching from 2017.
There is a problem and that is the amount of useful information that is provided for each probate case drops substantially for later deaths.
For English and Welsh probate cases, it might be worth searching the Gazette. IIRC, it used to be the London Gazette.
For Scottish probate - visit Edinburgh...
For Nor'n Ireland probate - visit Belfast!
MW
|
|
