The Duchy of Cornwall has recently been in the news after announcing plans to sell around 20% of its property portfolio over the next 10 years. The Duchy, which provides a private income of more than £20 million a year to Prince William in his role as the Prince of Wales, said the sales will help fund housing, environmental and community projects.
While the headlines focused on the Duchy’s property portfolio, the story also shines a light on a little-known area of inheritance law. In certain circumstances, where someone dies without leaving a valid Will and there are no relatives entitled to inherit, their estate may be treated as Bona Vacantia.
What Happens If Someone Dies Without a Will?
When someone dies without leaving a valid Will, their estate, including property, money and other assets, is distributed according to the rules of intestacy. In most cases, this means the estate passes to surviving family members in a prescribed order set out by law.
It is important to note that friends, unmarried partners and charities do not inherit under the intestacy rules unless they are provided for in a valid Will.
What is Bona Vacantia?
Bona Vacantia is Latin term meaning “ownerless goods”.
If someone dies without a Will and no relatives entitled to inherit can be found, their estate may ultimately pass to the Crown (or, in some areas, the Duchy of Lancaster or Duchy of Cornwall) as Bona Vacantia. However, an estate should not be treated as Bona Vacantia simply because no family members are immediately known. Reasonable enquiries should always be made to trace potential beneficiaries before reaching that conclusion.
Why Tracing is So Important
It should never be assumed that there are no surviving relatives simply because none are immediately apparent. Family members may have emigrated, become estranged or simply lost contact over the years.
Without proper investigations, beneficiaries who are legally entitled to inherit could be overlooked, potentially resulting in delays, additional costs or future claims against the estate.
Tracing beneficiaries is therefore an important part of administering an estate. It helps ensure that the estate is distributed correctly and provides personal representatives with confidence that they have fulfilled their legal responsibilities, helping to reduce the risk of future disputes or claims.
At the same time, comprehensive asset searches can help identify property, bank accounts, investments or other assets that might otherwise remain undiscovered, ensuring the estate has been fully accounted for.
How Taylor Emmet Can Help
Taylor Emmet’s Inheritance Tracing team supports personal representatives and families where there is uncertainty about beneficiaries or estate assets.
Working alongside experienced professional genealogists, we trace missing beneficiaries, verify family trees and establish the correct line of inheritance. We can also arrange comprehensive asset and liability searches, assist with probate documentation and support the administration of estates where financial information is incomplete or difficult to obtain.
Where there is no Will, uncertainty about surviving relatives or incomplete information about the deceased’s assets, obtaining specialist advice at an early stage can save considerable time and expense.
Early investigations can help establish the correct beneficiaries, identify all estate assets and enable personal representatives to administer the estate confidently and in accordance with the law.
If you would like to speak to our Inheritance Tracing team, email inheritance@tayloremmet.co.uk or call 0330 390 3321.