51 unclaimed estates worth thousands in Sheffield are waiting for their rightful heir to come forward

The Treasury has revealed how almost 6,500 unclaimed estates worth millions of pounds in inheritance are sat in limbo across the UK waiting for their rightful heir.

Unclaimed estates, also known as ‘ownerless property’, occur when there is no will – or the beneficiaries of the will cannot be traced - and the next family member in line cannot be found.

The Treasury only reveals details of estates worth £500 or above. Official figures from 2021 showed that a total of £77million in unclaimed inheritance was languishing in Treasury coffers. If no relative can be traced within 12 years, the dormant estate becomes the property of the Crown.

The full list of unclaimed estates, as well as the names of the deceased, their date and place of birth, and other clues that could help find their heir, can be read here on the Government website.

Here is a list of all of Sheffield’s unclaimed estates and the dates they died. Some of the surnames from Sheffield’s 51 estates are so distinctive – including Treddinick, Zolnowski, Ronksley, and Ali-Bin-Ali, to name a few – that it might help budding genealogists and long lost family members make the connection.

• Mohammed Wazir – 21/10/2004
• Mohammed Ali-Bin-Ali – 23/04/2007
• Alan Allen – 06/01/1999
• Rohim Box – 14/12/2014
• Frank Brown – 08/12/2009
• Christina Casson – 06/01/1996
• Frederick Cooper – 13/12/2013
• Glyn Barry Davies – 03/11/2004
• Joseph Dejneka – 27/07/2009
• James Donaghy – 17/02/1996
• Michael Harry Donovan – 17/06/1997
• Jessica Beatrice Fletcher – 11/09/2018
• Alice Maud Hamer – 13/03/1994
• Eric Thomas Hill – 01/01/2009
• Robert Hudson – 15/12/2022
• Anthony James Ibbotson – 18/01/2016
• Linda Susan Jamieson – 11/10/2006
• William Johanes – 23/09/2008
• Istvan Steven Juhasz – 18/01/2005
• Sylvia Keatley – 09/08/2001
• Stefan Kolencik – 14/03/2016
• Arthur Little – 13/07/2001
• John Henry Littlewood – 03/05/2006
• Michael Patrick McDermott – 21/01/2013
• Francis McGinty – 01/04/2001
• Elsie Moore – 27/03/2003
• Dennis Patrick Murphy – 12/10/2010
• Michael George Naylor – 07/05/2019
• Brian Oldale – 30/05/2015
• Raj Parmar – 11/05/2010
• Kirsty Louise Pegg – 12/04/1996
• Anton Prystasz – 29/07/1996
• Audrey Ronksley – 03/07/1998
• Paul Martin Staniforth – 05/03/2013
• Eric Roger Taylor – 04/06/2018
• Joseph Neil Taylor – 02/03/2013
• Mary Thomas – 22/01/1999
• David John Treddinick – 13/11/2019
• Audrey Waring Wainwright – 25/09/2006
• Dorothy Walker – 05/02/1998
• Betty Sheldon Watson – 04/02/2004
• Margaret Nancy Wheatcroft – 03/04/2013
• Nargis Bashir White – 04/10/2020
• Winifred Whitehead – 17/10/1999
• Nellie Wilkinson – 30/07/1995
• Akinlolu Olaniran Williams – 26/07/2013
• Geoffrey Wood – 16/08/2000
• Alfred Donald Yates – 06/12/2001
• Franceszlk Zolnowski – 08/07/1993
• Susan Elizabeth Bailey – 13/08/2013
• Timothy Joseph Redmond – 29/07/1993
• David John Watson – 17/01/2013

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

“Unclaimed estates generally come about if the executors cannot trace a beneficiary who has either been named in a will or is next in line to inherit,” said Craig.

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

“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.”

For more information on how to claim an estate, visit the Government website here.