Ghost Heirs and Stolen Fortune – How the Bona Vacantia List became a fraudster’s playground

August 19, 2025

One month ago, the Bona Vacantia Division of the Government Legal Department made the decision to temporarily remove the Unclaimed Estates List from their website. This article will look into the background behind this decision and the investigation that unveiled the flagrant flaws in our probate system.

The Intestacy Rules

The Intestacy Rules are the legal framework that dictates how an individual’s assets are distributed when they die in the absence of a Will (Intestacy), or where a Will does not effectively and completely distribute their Estate (Partial Intestacy).

The order of priority is as follows:

  1. Spouse or Civil Partner (N.B. Common Law Spouses and Partners do not receive the same entitlement)
  2. Children
  3. Parents
  4. Siblings (N.B. if siblings have predeceased, then their children inherit their deceased parents’ share)
  5. Grandparents
  6. Aunts and Uncles (N.B. if Aunts or Uncles have predeceased, then their children inherit their parents’ share)
  7. Bona Vacantia

The application of the Intestacy Rules is complex and can lead to claims and personal liability against a Personal Representative if the Estate is administered incorrectly. Legal advice should always be sought in this circumstance.

Bona Vacantia

If no qualifying relatives are found (those in categories 1-6), the Estate becomes “Bona Vacantia”. Bona Vacantia translates to “vacant goods” and means that any ownerless property passes by law to the Crown.

The Bona Vacantia Division of the Government Legal Department have a “Bona Vacantia List” in order to allow individuals to come forward and raise a claim to any Estate to which they believe they are entitled. This list is public information and can be accessed by anyone. However, on the 7th July 2025, the Bona Vacantia List was removed from the GOV.UK website whilst they review the susceptibility of this list to fraud.

Suspicion of wrongdoing

In an article released by Fraser & Fraser, a firm specialising in probate research, it was announced that Neil Fraser, a Partner at the firm, had long been raising concerns regarding the possibility of fraudulent Wills being used to wrongfully claim Estates that would otherwise be Bona Vacantia. Fraser & Fraser have stated that their campaigning and attempts to alert authorities to the weakness in the system had receiving a “worrying lack of response from authorities”. However, it did catch the attention of the BBC, who launched their own investigation.

BBC Investigation

The BBC’s probe into the Bona Vacantia List found that a significant number of Estates that were due to be unclaimed had appeared on the Bona Vacantia List and shortly after a Will surfaced providing a sole heir. The BBC also found that the ‘sole heirs’ appeared to be connected to each other through “a network of company directorships, and all had names of Hungarian origin”.

It has become apparent that a criminal syndicate have been abusing the probate system, fraudulently creating Wills to claim Estates otherwise Bona Vacantia. By accessing the Bona Vacantia List, the fraudsters choose an Estate and make an application for a Grant of Probate, providing a Will to the Probate Registry that goes largely unchecked. Once they have received a Grant of Probate, they claim the Estate for themselves. The result is an illegal profit of millions of pounds.

Further to the results of the BBC Investigation, the List has now been removed from the GOV.UK website, and the Ministry of Justice have stated they are “working with the relevant agencies to support ongoing investigations into alleged fraudulent activity”.

What this means for future unclaimed Estates

The removal of the Bona Vacantia list presents an issue for ‘heir hunter’ businesses, as the list provides the basis for their investigations. Whilst this step is to the detriment of such businesses, the removal of the list is a safeguarding step to prevent further fraud whilst an action plan is devised and rolled out.

It is currently unknown what the plan is for the future of the Bona Vacantia list, or how long it will take for the Government to release these plans. However, there is no immediate need for concern in respect of a long lost relative missing out on benefitting from their Estate, because Estates remain on the Bona Vacantia list for 30 years. However, the longer the list is removed, the more delay there will be in locating and contacting potential beneficiaries.

How to protect your Estate

The most fundamental thing that an individual must do is to gain an understanding of how to prevent your Estate from becoming Bona Vacantia. The most efficient way to do this is to create a Will, and to keep this Will up-to-date. By creating a Will, you are ensuring that your Estate passes in accordance with your wishes to your loved ones.

At Herrington Carmichael, we advise that individuals review or update their Will at least every 3 years, or with every major life event such as births, house purchases/moves, and deaths. We provide specialist advice to ensure that you can avoid both intestacy and partial intestacy and ultimately prevent your Estate ending up on the Bona Vacantia list and potentially vulnerable to fraud.

If you wish to draft a Will or discuss your current Will with us, please contact our Private Wealth & Inheritance team.

Jessica McDonald
Solicitor, Private Wealth & Inheritance
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This reflects the law and market position at the date of publication and is written as a general guide. It does not contain definitive legal advice, which should be sought in relation to a specific matter.

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