Unclaimed Estates Await! Is Your Surname on the Wales Inheritance List?

Hey, I saw something interesting. Many estates in Wales are unclaimed right now. The government keeps a list of these, called bona vacantia. It means “vacant goods” in Latin. This happens when someone dies without a will and has no known family.

Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan have the most unclaimed estates, showing 58. Gwynedd follows with 25. Caerphilly, Ceredigion, and Torfaen have just one each. The Crown gets these assets if no one claims them. The Treasury solicitor manages everything.

You have 12 years to claim an estate, starting when it’s listed as unclaimed. You must then prove you’re related. A family tree helps to show this link.

The inheritance order is specific. A spouse has first priority. Then come children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. After that, parents, siblings, and half-siblings can claim, followed by grandparents, uncles, aunts, and their relatives.

Here’s a county-by-county list of unclaimed estates from February 5, 2025.

Anglesey: Jennie Griffiths (1924-2011), Michael O’Loughlan (1937-2014), Henry Owen Roberts (1939-1995), Peter John Sanders (1939-2012).

Gwynedd: Carol Ann Brown (1954-2019), Vivian Michael Brownray (1920-2005), Eluned Evans (unknown-1998), Richard Parry Evans (unknown-1998), Griffith John Griffiths (1919-1999), Francis John Hookham (1945-2002), Stefan Hrynyk (1925-2011), Glyn Jones (1928-2005), Pawel Kazimierz Kalinowski (1927-2013), Thomas Isaac Martin (1934-2014), Margarita Christina Millard (1910-1997), Jozef Mocarski (1912-1999), Lawrence John O’Dell (1958-2016), Stanislaw Osiak (1916-1998), Mair Eluned Owen (1929-2012), Christopher John Packer (1936-1999), Elizabeth Peters (1915-2001), Gwilym Meurig Roberts (1933-2005), Margarita Annelise Sander-Long (1917-2013), James Sheehan (1940-2008), Patrick Joseph Skillen (1954-2024), Alan Thomas (1955-2024), Robert Vivian Thomas (1929-2013), Marian Wilczynski (1916-2006), Boleslaw Wozniak (1918-2009).

Caerphilly: Herbert Michael Miller (1925-2004).

Bridgend: Barrie John (1951-2019), Roger John (1946-2003), Philip Lewis (1948-2020), Henry Thomas Lindo (1930-2008), Franciszek Parda (1924-1999), Reginald Tracey(1953-2023), Carlton Willis (unknown-1999), Antoni Wojtaniec (1922-2008).

Cardiff & Vale of Glamorgan: Ishak Ali (1934-2013), Patrickson Anthony (1935-2006), Leonard Baker (1934-2011), William Ivan Bell (1924-2010), Emanuel Bigeni (1920-2000), Evelyn Briggs (unknown-1999), Janet Broomfield (1957-2015), Cameron Cassidy (1971-2010), Brian Davies (1919-2000), Raymond Davies (1941-2011), Charles Down (1920-2005), Stephen Mark Timothy Duggan (1961-2010), Aloke Kumar Dutta (1930-2002), James Edwards (1923-2007), Andrew Neil Furnival (1945-2024), Nicholas Daniel Gabrilenko (1924-2001), Rushford Gordon (1910-2000), George Gray (1911-1999), Anthony George Hades (1951-2017), Leslie John Hankerd (1938-2019), Dudley Hendy (1945-2021), Robert Henley (1948-2022), Rose Mary Higgins (1950-2024), Jean Hope (1931-2020), Angela Mary Jeffries (1947-2015), John Jones (1943-2006), James Jordan (1945-2012), Joan Lewis (1919-2011), Rashid Osman Magan (1946-2002), John Matthews (1937-2007), John McKean (1946-2024), Myra Christine Mills (1936-1996), Ronald Morland (1946-2016), Josephine Mary Oakley (1926-2004), Maureen O’Brien (1938-2001), Robert Trevor Owen (1931-2022), Michael Park (1944-2008), Nellie Mary Phillips (1907-1997), Neede Poder (unknown-1996), Wladyslaw Polchlopek (1926-2003), Mohammed Abdi Quorshill (unknown-2002), Hugh Ravenau (1921-2001), John Reilly (1941-2018), Noel George Rodriques (1914-2000), Henrique Santos (1924-2000), Nicholas Sharma (1938-2019), John Shiels (1951-2006), Arthur Smith (unknown-1997), Frank Spiteri (1933-2005), Peter Ronald Staples (1933-2012), Bernhard Tallmeister (1924-2000), Frederick Thomas (1931-2010), John Thomas (1932-2001), Sheila Mary Thomas (1937-2020), Elizabeth Thompson (unknown-1996), Anthony Frederick Vella (1943-2019), William Walsh (1920-2009), Lionel Harris Williams (1927-2009).

Merthyr Tydfil: Megan Gwyther (1919-2001), Malcolm John Howard (1950-2017), Hilda Maroney (1910-1999), David Reginald Mather (1928-1997), Bernard Morris (1930-2009), Leon Sean Roper (1954-2021).

Carmarthenshire: Anne Anthony (1923-2006), Sarah Davies (1921-2001), William Evans (1921-2007), Lavinia Gardiner (1908-1999), Joseph Kretusz (1907-2004), Teresa Mary Llewelyn (1936-2013), Imogene Martyn (1944-2019), Catherine Moffat (unknown-2001), Thomas O’Rourke (1930-2005), Ivy Maude Owen (1914-2007).

Rhondda Cynon Taf: Colin Carter (1938-2021), Brian Davies (1950-2023), Jacqueline Jane Davies (1964-2020), John Griffiths (1946-2023), Carole Anne Jones (1943-2018), Lazar Milinovic (1925-2007), Doris Morgan (1911-2008), Elizabeth Mary Morris (1907-1999), William Morris (1921-2002).

Monmouthshire: Nancy Lewis (1930-2020), William Vaughan (1932-2009), Dudley Walters (1923-2006).

Conwy: Margaret Hall Boydell (1911-1997), Edward Frederick Davis (unknown-2002), George Kenway (1945-2025), Frank Regan (1925-1997), May Roberts (1944-2014), Rafal Tomaszewicz (1912-2003).

Ceredigion: Anne Elizabeth Mary James (1938-2005).

Denbighshire: Albert Behm (1925-2014), Dorothy Mary Gee (1941-2020), Jean Glendinning (1931-2001), Stephen Jacques (1948-2010), Peter Lawrence Johnson (1933-2004), Desmond Thomas Johnston (1946-2021), David Glyn Jones (1946-2014), Olwen Jones (1937-2004), Colin Robert Piercy (1946-2004), Dennis Thomas (1939-2012), John Jacob Williams (1918-1997).

Swansea: Ahmed Nasser Ali (1923-2000), Mary Theresa Bradley (1938-2022), Thomas Patrick Brazil (1916-1997), Ivy Clarke (unknown-1995), Anthony James Coursey (1935-2019), Charles Henry Bryant Hawker (1929-2016), Iris Florence Hayes (1909-1998), Anthony Colin Hill (1953-2022), Barbara Winifred James (1930-2018), Tedor Joseph Kuzaj (unknown-1995), George Aubrey Lewis (1945-2004), Patrick Llewellyn (unknown-2000), Peter Mitchell (1929-2008), Michael Nolan (1945-2005), Keith Perkins (1946-2022), Iwan Romaniw (1920-2006), Leslie Smith (1930-2006), Betty Annie Tuck (1911-1998), Nathaniel Krisstoffer Whitehouse (1971-2021).

Powys: Gwendoline Maud Ford (1923-2002), William Henry Harding (1923-2003), Margaret Ann Jenkins (unknown-2000), Edgar Schattschneider (1925-2009), Iris Mary Woodfine (1920-2002).

Wrexham: Athol Ernest Cowen (1942-2010), Elizabeth Hayes (1944-2017), Margaret Ellen Jones (1926-2007), Maidie Kirkham-Thomas (1923-1999), Malcolm McGifford McCleery (1927-2009), Gwyn Owen (1929-2019), Anna Parys (1911-2002), Michal Rad (1924-1996), William Roberts (1910-1995), Frances Kathleen Rowley (1914-2003).

Torfaen: Frederick Macey (1920-2009).

Flintshire: Dennis Hughes (1921-2003), Dyreck Littlewood (1934-2011), Joseph Mervyn Parry (1933-2003), Paula Robinson (1966-2011), Frances Williams (1910-2002.