Finders International’s Managing Director Danny Curran issued a warning about the millions of pounds that go unclaimed every year because of the large number of Irish-born people in the UK who lose touch with their relatives.

Speaking to the Irish Independent newspaper, Danny said the estates of deceased people who do not leave a will or details of their relatives automatically come under the management of the UK Government’s Treasury.

If no-one claims the estate within a certain time, the property reverts to the UK Government. Approximately one in five unclaimed estates include a property.

Relatives of Angela Boardman sought

In one recent case, relatives of a Mrs Angela Boardman who died in London in 1992 have nine weeks to come forward before her estate is handed over to the UK Government. Mrs Boardman (née Sisk) was born in Cork in 1932 and died in London in 1992. She died intestate and did not leave anything that identified next of kin.

She is believed to have lived in the affluent Wimbledon area of London.

The UK Treasury’s Bona Vacantia department makes efforts to trace a person’s living relatives if they die without leaving a will. For people who originally came from Ireland, they place public notices in local newspapers and the department publishes a weekly list of unclaimed estates online.

Estates of Irish-born people

The most recent list (June 16) includes the details of about 450 estates of people born in Ireland. While the value of the estates is not listed, the Bona Vacantia department does not deal with estates worth less than £500.

While many of the estates are not worth a great deal of money, they often include bank savings, life insurance policies and properties.

Mrs Boardman married her husband, Anthony, in the London borough of Merton on May 2, 1980. He died in August 1991 and his wife one year later.

Annie Mary Butler

Another estate from an Irish-born person is that of Annie Mary Butler, who was born in Limerick on October 13, 1910, and who died in West Bromwich on July 8, 2004. She married Owen Joseph Butler and her maiden name was Walsh.

The couple married in St Munchin’s in Limerick on December 26, 1951, and Mrs Butler’s parents were a John Walsh and Anne Walsh (nee Roche).

Then, there is the County Kildare woman, Mary Quinn who died in Ealing, London, on May 6, 1999. She married James Quinn in Ealing on February 15, 1958, and he predeceased her. Mrs Quinn’s maiden name was Davis and she was born in Stradbally, County Laois, on July 14, 1915.

Unclaimed estate

Other cases include Christopher Mary Guina, who died in Ramsgate, Kent, in August last year. Born on September 5, 1952, his estate was notified as unclaimed by Barclays Bank.

Daniel David Guiney was born in Dublin in 1942 and died in Westminster in November 2021. The 79-year-old was a bachelor.

Surviving relatives have also not come forward to claim James Noel Fitzgerald’s estate. James Fitzgerald was born in Tralee, County Kerry, in December 1943 and died in Southampton in July last year.

Rightful beneficiaries traced

Recently, Finders International found the relatives of a County Monaghan woman who died in in Essex in 2015. Born Sheila McCaffrey in 1928, Sheila Lancaster was originally from Clones and emigrated to the UK where she worked as a bank clerk.

She married Eric Lancaster in 1974 at the age of 46. The couple had no children and when she died, she did not leave a will and had no known relatives. Her €400,000 estate mainly comprised a house in Essex.

Finders International managed to find 33 relatives, who will now each receive a share of the estate.

Danny told the Irish Independent that in most cases, banks, local authorities or hospitals inform the UK Government’s legal department about deaths, and that successfully tracing the rightful heirs to an estate was a hugely satisfying task.

Finders International Ireland trace missing beneficiaries to estates, properties and assets. To find out more, you can visit our website. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] or telephone +353 (0)1 5676940