Unclaimed estates in Essex may arise if you are not careful with your estate planning, check out Laura Richardson’s article now to find out how to avoid unclaimed estates in Essex now.
Unclaimed estates in Essex arise if somebody dies leaving no Will and there are no family members eligible to inherit their belongings. In some cases, family members had simply lost touch with the deceased, moved areas or changed names, and therefore may come forward to claim an Estate at a future date. However, there are currently over 9000 unclaimed Estates across the UK according to the latest list which is held by the Treasury Solicitor. This list is updated daily and is available to be accessed by the general public via https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/unclaimedestates-list. The list consists of all unclaimed Estates that are still within the timeframe to be claimed by an appropriate beneficiary. An Estate will remain on this list for 30 years, after which time its ownership will pass to the Treasury and the Estate will no longer be eligible to be claimed by any potential heirs.
The only way to ensure that your Estate doesn’t end up on the unclaimed list is to make a Will that is valid under UK law. Surprisingly, only a third of adults in the UK have a valid Will, meaning a potential 66% of UK Estates that could go unclaimed! In reality, if somebody dies without making a valid Will, there are usually beneficiaries that inherit the Estate via the rules of Intestacy. These rules govern who may inherit from an Estate in the event that either the deceased did not make a Will, or where the Will has been deemed invalid. The worry here is that the beneficiaries that are deemed valid under the rules of Intestacy may not be the same beneficiaries that the deceased would have
chosen to inherit their Estate.
By making a valid Will you are legally protecting your right to leave the entirety of your Estate to the beneficiaries of your choice. Even if you have no heirs whom you wish to inherit your Estate, you could choose to benefit a charity or other institution of your choice. In this way, you retain complete control over the contents of your Estate after you die.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of making or amending your Will, contact Andrew Douglas Wills and Legal Services today. As specialists in Will writing services, you can rest assured that your Will reflects your exact wishes. Call today to arrange your free initial consultation! If you would like to keep up with our latest posts about aspects of estate planning, then please also –
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