A string of people could be entitled to a fortune through an unclaimed estate.

There are currently 46 estates in Brighton and Hove which have passed to the Crown as "ownerless property".

This means hundreds of thousands of pounds of inheritance could be "sitting in limbo" until the rightful heir is found.

The latest Treasury list provides details of almost 6,500 unclaimed estates across the UK – with combined assets possibly running into nine figures.

Official figures from 2021 showed that there was a total of £77 million in unclaimed inheritance.

Such "ownerless property" exists when a person dies without leaving a will and there are no apparent family members to claim the inheritance.

In general, estates held on the list can be claimed within a 12-year deadline, from the date the estate was taken into possession of the Crown.

The Treasury will allow claims up to 30 years from the date of the person’s death for unclaimed estates dating before 1997, subject to no interest being paid on the money that is held - if the claim is received after the 12-year period has ended.

The Treasury only advertises estates with a net value of £500 or above.

Craig Ridge, head of contentious probate at law firm Higgs LLP, said claiming an estate is a straightforward process for those entitled to it.

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“If you are aware of the death, there really is no need for the services of heir hunters, which typically charge between 10 and 15 per cent,” said Mr Ridge.

“Unclaimed estates generally come about when someone dies without a will and no one steps forward to deal with the estate.

“Should you believe you are entitled to an estate, and there is a will, it’s sometimes as simple as writing to the executors of the will and they will do everything for you from that point.

"If the executors do not respond, there are other things you can do but you may need some advice on how to go about it.”

If there is no valid will, then there is an order of priority as to who can apply to administer the estate, starting with any spouse of the deceased.

Entitlement to the estate in these situations is then governed by the rules of intestacy which follow a strict order.

“If you know someone has died and you believe you might have been left something, then you can simply search the probate records, or set up an alert for yourself, so that you know who to contact when the estate is dealt with,” said Mr Ridge.

The surnames of deceased people in Brighton where estates are unclaimed are:

  1. Fabry-de-Neddy Nahas
  2. Anderson
  3. Barnett
  4. Bird
  5. Brooke
  6. Brown
  7. Budd
  8. Buettner
  9. Bulcraig
  10. Clarke
  11. Connell
  12. Coult
  13. Crisp
  14. Crosbie-Parish 
  15. Daly 
  16. De Cavalho 
  17. Dean
  18. Doyle
  19. Errath
  20. Evans
  21. Harnisch
  22. Harrington
  23. Hunt
  24. Ladyman
  25. Lashmer-Parsons 
  26. Leahy
  27. Marlow
  28. McKeown
  29. McNamara
  30. Mohsenin
  31. Myers
  32. Nash
  33. Rennert
  34. Smith
  35. Smith-Simpson
  36. Wallis
  37. Wardle
  38. White
  39. Wilson
  40. Sumray
  41. Baker
  42. Berry
  43. De-Benedetti
  44. Godwin
  45. Goode
  46. Lambert