List of 17 unclaimed estates in South Tyneside that you could inherit if you have these surnames, how to claim

A list containing the surnames of people with unclaimed estates in the South Shields area has been released by the treasury, meaning you could be entitled to some money if you share a surname with the names on the list.

An unclaimed estate is when someone dies without leaving a will, or when an old will is in place and the beneficiaries have died. When this happens, the property left behind is deemed ownerless.

Due to being viewed as ‘ownerless’, the crown assumes possession of the property which is usually resolved after being claimed within a 12-year window where family members can come forward and claim an estate.

There is an order priority when people come forward to claim an estate, with those who share a closer relation to the person in question entitled to the estate before distant relatives such as half-uncles.

This is who can 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

Full list of unclaimed estates in South Tyneside

1. Baker
2. Balmer
3. Cairns
4. Gaffney
5. Harley
6. Henderson
7. Kennedy
8. Mason
9. O’Neill
10. Palmer
11. Robson
12. Rowntree
13. Simpson
14. Ward
15. Warner
16. Waugh
17. Wilson

How to claim an unclaimed estate

Anyone who believes they might be entitled to a share of an unclaimed estate should contact The Treasury on the government website.