[meldrewreborn]

A couple of reclusive people have died near me leaving apparently no will and no known relatives.

If this is proven to be the case, then after a couple of years the case is referred to the Bona Vacentia Department , part of HM Treasury. They will then publish details on their website allowing Genealogy firms to try and trace heirs - heir hunters. Eventually the state will claim all the assets if no heirs are found.

I wondered what happens if there is a property involved, does it just sit there unused and unloved?

Well it turns out that our good friends in the local authority are responsible for safeguarding and maintaining(!) the property even to the extent of insuring it - all paid from our funds. But the properties remain unused /unoccupied, and that to me seems completely wrong when there is under supply of housing.

[Andy65]

I used to watch Heir Hunters on BBC1 years ago @meldrewreborn and the properties are just left unoccupied and not maintained. I suspect those heirs with common sense would be grateful that someone has taken the time, effort and money to maintain a property that they've then inherited. But there'll be an increasing amount of people who'd take the view '...you've no right to do that etc, I want compensation blah blah blah'.

[meldrewreborn]

@Andy65

leaving potentially valuable property empty is criminal in my view and I can’t see why such property couldn’t be refurbished and let while legal beneficiaries are being identified. In essence the council would become temporary executors. Heirs identified later would just have to suck it up.

having an empty property does nothing good towards the area it occupies.

[Andy65]

I wasn't disagreeing with you @meldrewreborn, just pointing out the view that some might take these days. It would be interesting to have an idea of roughly how many properties we could be talking about here.

I don't think that you could have local councils being responsible for it though, they struggle to manage the property that they are responsible for.

[meldrewreborn]

@Andy65

I'm glad we are together on this.

It just that local authorities are legally liable for looking after the properties currently, until the Bona Vacentia Department take the estate on. and the local authorities aren't that happy about the situation. especially if they're liable for a couple of years. Leaving properties empty for no good reason isn't sensible at any time.

It would need a bit of legislation but if it helped to reduce nugatory council expenditure and get a few more households properly housed, then I think it should be done.

[meldrewreborn]

@Andy65

I too used to watch Heir Hunters on the TV - although its not currently in production. Most of their cases came from the Bona Vacentia Department's monthly list list and the companies competed against each other to trace heirs and sign them up on a commission basis before their competitors. The fact that they were able to trace heirs quite quickly surprised me, mainly because it demonstrated that the BVD did precious little to do that themselves.

Why can't people make wills - then these situation would virtually disappear - although wills can be challenged.

[Andy65]

Originally Posted by meldrewreborn

@Andy65

I too used to watch Heir Hunters on the TV - although its not currently in production. Most of their cases came from the Bona Vacentia Department's monthly list list and the companies competed against each other to trace heirs and sign them up on a commission basis before their competitors. The fact that they were able to trace heirs quite quickly surprised me, mainly because it demonstrated that the BVD did precious little to do that themselves.

Why can't people make wills - then these situation would virtually disappear - although wills can be challenged.

As with most series these days it became too repetitive for me, a bit like The Repair Shop. The main hunters, Fraser and Fraser, you could almost see them salivating if they thought a property was involved.