Some families could be owed huge sums in inheritance, it has been revealed, after a list of Leeds names attached to unclaimed estates was released by the government.
The full list of 104 Leeds surnames was released by the Treasury, revealing that some people could be owed fortunes in inheritance. Amazingly, it’s believed some families may not even know they’re entitled to the money.
The instance of such unclaimed estate is actually much more common than some may and occurs when someone dies without having written a will.
In this situation, everything the person ever owned – from money to property and personal possessions – is not automatically transferred to the closest family member. Rather, it is divvied out by the rules of something called the law of intestacy.
If you are divorced or if your civil partnership has been legally ended, you can’t inherit anything without a will, nor if you lived together but were never married. Married partners who separated informally can still inherit, though.
This means that only a select list of people are able to access the estate. This list includes a husband, wife, or civil partner; children, great-grandchildren, etc; mother or father; brothers or sisters who share the same mother and father, or their children; half brothers or sisters, or their children; uncles and aunts or their children.
According to Direct Line, inheritance is split as follows according to the rules:
“The spouse of the deceased will receive everything up to the value of £250,000. In addition, the deceased’s personal items are gifted to the spouse.
“Anything on top of £250,000 is divided in two. Half goes to the deceased’s children when they turn 18, and the other half is added to the spouse’s existing inheritance.
The list doesn’t detail the specifics of each estate, but if you do recognise some you could potentially inherit a life-changing sum.
If the inheritance is left unclaimed for too long, the money will likely go back to the Crown.
See the full list of names released by the Treasury below.
The 104 surnames released are as follows:
Geoffrey Arnold Abbott / July 20, 2000 (Leeds) November 20, 1935 (Leeds)
Gregory Anderson/ January 5, 2012 (Leeds)/ July 4, 1949 (Yorkshire)
John Arnold / January 26 1909 (Leeds) / November 20 2000 (Leeds)
Pauline Atha / February 7 1947 (Leeds) / March 19 2014 (Macclesfield)
Michael Avalon / May 3 1950 (unknown) / June 24 2019 (Leeds)
John Barbour / March 20 1920 (unknown) / October 30 1992 (Leeds)
Walter Barker / December 15 1940 (Leeds) / October 26 2010 (Leeds)
Alice Louise Batchelor / August 8 1928 (Tower Hamlets) / December 18 2013 (Leeds)
Maurice Raymond Beaumont / October 1 1932 (England) / March 7 2006 (Leeds)
Georg Belaj / July 7 1918 (Ukraine) / July 18 2000 (Leeds)
Nora Ava / February 23 1930 (England) / September 16 1997 (Leeds)
David Blair / November 2 1945 (unknown) / September 29 2010 (Leeds)
John Joseph Bogle / July 5 1940 (County Tyrone) / November 26 2019 (Leeds)
Peter James Booth / April 4 1965 (Leeds) February 2 2017 (Heckmondwike)
Claretta Theodora Browne / October 26 1918 (Anguilla) / June 14 2001 (Leeds)
Barbara Christina Brunton / April 3 1928 (UK) / February 24 2019 (Leeds)
Henryk Bryll / December 30 1925 (Poland) / August 2 1999 (Leeds)
Timothy Burnham / June 14 1951 (unknown) / January 13 2013 (Leeds)
Mary Butler / May 1 1919 (Leeds) / July 26 2013 (Wortley, Leeds)
Nanette Dorothy Carter / April 4 1930 (Leeds) / April 27 1999 (Leeds)
Elaine Catton / August 24 1956 (Leeds) / February 29 2020 (Leeds)
Michael Clifford / September 23 1927 (Killamey) / April 26 2020 (Leeds)
Peter Crawley / date of birth and location unknown / July 24 2002 (Leeds)
John William Curtis / May 10 1921 (unknown) / September 2 2008 (Leeds)
Withold Czepello / September 24 1912 (Poland) / October 3 1993 (Leeds)
Jan Czyz / date of birth unknown (Poland) / April 8 2002 (Leeds)
Elphinton Davies / December 2 1936 (West Yorkshire) / June 19 2017 (Leeds)
Grace Dickinson / January 20 1927 (unknown) / December 9 2012 (Leeds)
John Dolan / February 25 1949 (unknown) / January 12 2019 (Leeds)
Patrick Duggan / January 23 1942 (Irish Republic) / September 13 2012 (Leeds)
Janis Dzenis / May 31 1928 (Latvia) / August 14 1998 (Leeds)
Kenneth Harry Edwards / December 5 1929 (Leeds) / November 29 2017 (Leeds)
Graham Stuart Ellis / May 29 1931 (Leeds) / April 29 2014 (Leeds)
James Harry Ellis / June 17 1924 (Leeds) / April 17 2003 (Bristol)
Thomas Ellis / February 16 1933 (Irish Republic) / April 8 2004 (Leeds)
Martin John Fiscor / February 8 1929 (Hungary) / January 19 1998 (Leeds)
Michael Fletcher / September 24 1938 (Leeds) / July 19 2015 (Leeds)
Lorraine Catherine Foster / October 10 1956 (Leeds) / April 28 2015 (Leeds)
William Garnett / June 5 1921 (Havana) / February 20 1995 (Leeds)
Dugal Gillies / March 14 1918 (Jamaica) / October 26 1997 (Leeds)
John Gilmore / March 2 1943 (Ireland) / August 2 2011 (Leeds)
Philip Gilmour / May 3 1948 (Leeds) / April 30 2012 (Wakefield)
Bernard Gilroy / March 23 1931 (unknown) / January 19 2000 (Leeds)
Rachel Goodwin / March 25 1932 (Leeds) / December 4 2015 (Leeds)
Margaret Emma Grant / November 14 1913 (London) / October 25 2007 (Leeds)
John Lawrence Habshaw / August 7 1938 (Leeds) / August 8 2011 (Leeds)
Frank Ernest Dean Hammond / May 15 1926 (Leeds) / June 20 1999 (Leeds)
Margaret Hanney / May 15 1924 (Scotland) / April 19 2013 (Leeds)
Philip Hardy / March 25 1967 (Leeds) / August 6 1990 (Bradford)
Gwendolyn Hart / June 11 1917 (West Indies) / March 4 2013 (Leeds)
Ethel Henderson / June 5 1925 (unknown) / February 18 2011 (Leeds)
Peter Higgins / February 4 1927 (unknown) / October 29 2005 (Leeds)
Ronald Howard/ DOB unknown / January 27 1997 (Leeds)
Freda Mary Howarth / February 9 1925 (Liverpool) / February 10 2002 (Pontefract)
Irene Hudson / August 5 1924 (Leeds) / December 8 2001 (Leeds)
Nathan Isaacs / August 31 1907 (Sunderland) / November 1999 (Leeds)
Eric Jackson / June 7 1929 (Leeds) / January 25 2008 (Leeds)
Marie Jackson-Ward / January 29 1969 (England) / March 29 2015 (Leeds)
Alden James / July 16 1941 (Aberavon) / August 5 2000 (Wakefield)
Peter James / April 29 1934 (unknown) / January 19 1998 (Leeds)
Harry Jones / October 17 1920 (unknown) / December 17 1991 (Leeds)
Henry Jones / April 14 1944 (Durban) / February 1 2012 (Leeds)
Mary Jones / March 22 1917 (County Mayo) / July 5 2008 (Leeds)
Owen Jones / September 30 1929 (Wales) / November 12 2001 (Leeds)
Terence Jones / October 19 1939 (unknown) / September 16 2003 (Leeds)
Jan Kalinski / January 26 1923 (Poland) / November 30 2006 (Halifax)
Antanas Karklinis / August 8 1917 (Lithuania) / April 17 1997 (Leeds)
Michael Keenan / November 4 1931 (UK) / February 13 2007 (Bradford)
Bernard Kelly / January 27 1908 (England) / April 23 1993 (Leeds)
Linda Susan Khan / November 8 1946 (Leeds) / June 24 2016 (Leeds)
Bordan Kmet / August 1 1949 (unknown) / February 6 2018 (Leeds)
Algidas Kutevicius/ December 1 1927 (Lithuania) / March 28 1999 (Leeds)
Edward Landy / April 6 1930 (Republic of Ireland) / November 14 2013 (Leeds)
Ethel Levine / January 24 1920 (Leeds) / November 25 2001 (Pontefract)
Neville Roy Lewis / September 20 1936 (West Indies) / May 21 1998 (Leeds)
Charles Lonsborough/ March 3 1913 (United Kingdom) / September 19 1996 (Leeds)
James Love / September 4 1940 (England) / July 2 1997 (Leeds)
Edward Lyons / June 1 1931 (Irish Republic) / March 10 2017 (Leeds)
Ronald Mackie / DOB unknown / April 28 1993 (Leeds)
Anthony Mann / August 13 1935 (Leeds) / December 24 2014 (Leeds)
Nigel Manning / January 1 1947 (Kent) / July 16 2019 (Leeds)
Edwin Marriot / January 7 1946 (Leeds) / December 15 2017 (Leeds)
Evelyn Mawn / October 14 1901 (Leeds) / December 12 1992 (Leeds)
James McAleece / April 22 1920 (Scotland) / March 21 1994 (Leeds)
Ian Mcaskill / September 15 1922 (unknown) / March 30 2000 (Leeds)
John McBride / July 27 1935 (unknown) / August 9 1999 (Leeds)
Linda McKean / April 17 1951 (England) / March 2 2018 (Leeds)
William McLaren / March 26 1921 (unknown) / January 20 2010 (Leeds)
Charles McLeish / February 7 1918 (Republic of Ireland) / July 23 1992 (Leeds)
Peter Moore / April 18 1931 (London) / October 29 2010 (Leeds)
Yvonne Morris / February 21 1930 (Liverpool) / August 13 2016 (Leeds)
Alan Morton / July 30 1946 (Germany) / May 27 2013 (Leeds)
Eugene Mullan / May 19 1947 (England) / January 25 2020 (Leeds)
Michael Mullen / September 8 1952 (Leeds) / August 5 1996 (Leeds)
Rudolph Muller / May 24 1912 (Poland) / September 22 1991 (Pontefract)
Patrick Murphy / July 10 1933 (Leeds) / August 7 2009 (Leeds)
James Murray / March 19 1936 (Republic of Ireland) / February 10 2016 (Leeds)
John Murray / DOB unknown / December 15 2004 (Leeds)
Patrick O’Brien / January 28 1946 (unknown) / November 18 2005 (Leeds)
Grethe Oldridge / DOB unknown / July 24 1994 (Leeds)
Anthony O’Shea / April 23 1944 (Republic of Ireland) / Janaury 24 2005 (Leeds)
John O’Sullivan / March 12 1929 (Eire) / July 6 2008 (Leeds)
John Patrick O’Sullivan / April 28 1920 (Eire) / March 3 2003 (Leeds)
John Pearson / February 7 1926 (West Hartlepool) / February 14 1992 (Leeds
Feature image- Wikimedia Commons
