West Sussex unclaimed estates: the full list of surnames which could mean you are a long lost heir

Stumbling upon a fortune is something that only happens in dreams for many people, or if you are one of the lucky few to bag a winning lottery ticket.
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But suddenly coming into piles of money can happen under different circumstances - like a hefty inheritance.

Every year hundreds of people in the UK die without a will, leaving behind their property, money and other possessions as unclaimed estates.

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If a blood relative cannot be found, and the person’s assets are worth more than £500, their estate will pass to the Crown.

Do you think you might have a claim?Do you think you might have a claim?
Do you think you might have a claim?

Currently, there are more than 7,500 such estates still lying heirless in England and Wales, and are potentially worth hundreds of millions.

Long lost relatives of the deceased have 30 years to make a claim to the Bona Vacantia division (BVD) of the Government Legal Department, which keeps the assets in limbo on behalf of the Crown.

Here’s everything you need to know – and how to make your claim.

West Sussex’s unclaimed states

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The BVD is currently sitting on 122 unclaimed estates from people who died without an heir in West Sussex over the last 30 years.

Between them, the deceased people had 111 surnames, which could be clues to help track down relatives.

Everyone from nieces, nephews, half siblings and their offspring, cousins and half aunts or uncles could have a stake in a person’s estate.

That’s if husbands, wives, parents, children, grandchildren and siblings cannot be tracked down, all of whom come higher up the inheritance pecking order.

The list of surnames in West Sussex as of October 15 is:

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Adie, Ault, Bangerter, Barclay, Barta, Beard, Beezer, Best, Bibby, Bird, Black, Blake, Branford, Breese, Brennan, Brooks, Brown, Brown, Burke, Cockerill, Cook, Courtice, Courtney, Cousins, Crawford, Daughtry, Davies, Davis, De, Benetti, De, Villiers, Dedman, Della, Costa, Dougal, Dunne, Eberall, Edwards, Edwards, Finnis, Forbes-Thomson, Foster, Freeman, Garret, Gibbs, Gibson, Gordon, Gordon, Gorsulowski, Green, Green, Hall, Halstead, Harding, Harris, Harris, Harrison, Hassett, Hill, Hoar, Hunt, Jacobson, James, Jarvis, Johnson, Juszczuk, Kavanagh, Kerr, Khan, Khan, King, Knight, Kowal, Lang, Lesley, Little, Lowndes, Lynfield, Mackie, Manse, Mansell, Marshall, Martin, Mason, Mason, McDonagh, Meadows, Medicks, Morley, Muir, Musson, O'Shea, Parsons, Piper, Raven, Redfern, Rigg, Robinson, Robiquet, Rudoi, Sabuk, Samuel, Scott, Silvano, Sir, Ivan, Hoe, Slater, Smith, Smith, Smith, Smith, Tanner, Taylor, Thomas, Veitch, Vernon, Walcott, Walter, Ward, Wheatland, White, Williams, Williams, Young, Zauli.

This list is not exhaustive – it doesn’t include people who were born in West Sussex but died elsewhere in the country or abroad.

That means you could still have a claim, even if you don’t have a connection with someone on this list.

How to check the list and make a claim

The full list of unclaimed estates in England and Wales is here.

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The BVD handles unclaimed estates in England and Wales, except where the estate is held by the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster – that’s if the estate is in Cornwall or the historic county palatine of Lancaster.

Anyone who thinks they have a claim can send in a family tree showing how they are related to the person who died, including the dates of birth, marriage and death of all those on the tree.

The BVD will then ask for extra documentary evidence if they think they may be entitled to a claim.

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