If someone dies without making a will, they are said to have died 'intestate'. If this happens, the law sets out who should deal with the deceased's affairs and who should inherit their estate (property, personal possessions and money).
What to do if there is no will
It can take a long time to deal with estates that don't have a will – months or even years in some very complex cases.
For advice on getting expert help from a solicitor, who can deal with the deceased person's estate and who inherits it, please see:
What happens if there are no known relatives
When a person has died without leaving a will and without known entitled relatives, the ownerless property by law passes to the Crown. The Treasury Solicitor represents the Crown in dealing with these estates.
The legal name for ownerless property is bona vacantia which means ‘vacant goods'.
If you think you have a claim to an ownerless property, or need advice on referring a case to the Treasury, find out what to do by visiting:
Intestate cases in East Sussex
Below is a list is of residents within East Sussex who have passed away and no next of kin can be found. We hope this information may help long lost family members to be found.
This list, provided by our Adult Social Care department, shows:
- name of the person who has died, including maiden name if relevant
- marital status
- date of birth
- date of death
- the person's last address
- date when the case was sent to the Treasury Solicitor.
There are no privacy breaches in publishing this information as the Data Protection Act does not apply to deceased people.
We review this list twice a year in March and September. The last review was in March 2012 and the details are still current as we have not sent any new cases to the Treasury Solicitor since March 2011.
East Sussex County Council