The Question
A friend and neighbour who has lived opposite me for 15 years has died suddenly. She has no family that I know of and has never had any visitors. What will happen to her home, of which she was the owner?
Andrew’s Answer
It is possible that your neighbour left a Will and many people in that instance will have considered their affairs and looked to benefit friends, neighbours or charities. If, however, your neighbour did not leave a Will then the ‘intestacy rules’ would apply to the distribution of her assets and the effect of these will depend upon the ‘domicile’ of your neighbour.
On the basis that she was domiciled in England or Wales, the spouse and children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren would benefit first, thereafter any surviving parents, siblings then nieces/nephews (and remoter descendants), half-siblings (and remoter descendants of theirs), grandparents, aunts/uncles (and their descendants) and finally half-aunts/half-uncles (and their descendants).
For many people, there are some remoter relatives to inherit under these intestacy rules even if they were very remote, unknown to the deceased or estranged.
If, however, there are no people readily ascertained to potentially benefit under the intestacy rules then the estate will pass to the Crown (termed ‘bona vacantia’ or ‘ownerless property’).
Depending upon its location, the Government Legal Department (or other body appointed for the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster, Scotland or Northern Ireland) will handle the estate for the Crown.
The Treasury Solicitor of Government Legal Department will arrange to administer the estate which will likely involve selling the assets (including the property) and settling any liabilities and taxes as with a normal probate.
The Treasury Solicitor will try to find qualifying relatives by tracing the history and then publicise the estate on the ‘Bona Vacantia List’ which is a publicly available list of estates with the intention that any qualifying beneficiaries could then come forward within the next 30 years to claim the inheritance. A claim within 30 years can be made to withdraw the funds but otherwise they will remain with the Crown.
There have been cases of fraud arising from estates listed on the bona vacantia list, with Wills appearing to be created specifically to try and defraud the Crown. It is important to ensure that a Will is in place to provide some certainty on the passing of assets on death to avoid the difficulty and expense that can arise with intestacies.
Andrew Titmus, is head of estate planning & private client solicitor at Parfitt Cresswell Solicitors
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