Thousands of families across the UK may be unaware that they are entitled to an inheritance. New research has revealed the surnames which most frequently appear on the Government's list of unclaimed estates.
When people die without leaving a will or known blood relatives, their assets pass to the Crown as 'bona vacantia' (Latin for 'ownerless goods'). The list of unclaimed estates – which include money, belongings, land and property – is published by the Government to help find beneficiaries.
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Many common UK surnames repeatedly appear in the list of 5,344 unclaimed estates, according to analysis by solicitors, HD Claims. They found a significant number of cases have gone unclaimed, often for decades, because no eligible relatives have come forward.
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The most common surnames appearing on the unclaimed estates list include Brown, Johnson, Jones, Robinson, Smith, Taylor, Thompson, Walker, Williams and Wilson. The solicitors say beneficiaries of these estates are often harder to trace due to the complexity of large family trees and the number of people sharing the same name.
They said: “People often assume unclaimed estates only involve distant relatives or unusual circumstances, but the data shows the opposite. Some of the most common surnames in the UK appear again and again. That means ordinary families could be entitled to inherit without ever realising it.”
Many also wrongly assume that unclaimed estates are historic. While some date back over half a century, the average case has remained unresolved for around 17 years, with nearly three-quarters relating to deaths that occurred 10 to 30 years ago.
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The list is continuing to grow, with more than 140 estates connected to deaths in 2024 and 2025 already added to the register. An estate becomes unclaimed when no eligible family members are identified within the statutory period.
Common contributing factors include: the absence of a will or outdated wills; family estrangement or limited contact; relatives living in different parts of the UK or abroad; changes in name through marriage or migration; and missing or incomplete records.
Crucially, these estates can still be claimed by rightful heirs, sometimes many years later, provided entitlement can be proven. “Checking the unclaimed estates list isn’t about curiosity,” said the HD Claims spokesperson. “For some families, it could mean discovering an inheritance they didn’t know existed.”
You can check the Government's unclaimed estates list here.
