The 50 Cheshire surnames that could inherit a fortune

Some Cheshire residents could be sitting on a fortune – and they don’t even know it. There are currently 50 people who were either born or died in the county with inheritances waiting to be claimed.

They are found on the latest, up-to-date list of unclaimed estates published regularly by the Government. The Treasury list provides names and details of more than 6,000 unclaimed estates across the UK with combined assets worth tens of millions of pounds.

Anyone with one of the surnames listed could be entitled to claim some money, goods or property. The Treasury only advertises estates with a net value of £500 or above.In some cases, estates need to be claimed urgently before legal deadlines expire and any cash passes into the Government’s coffers. There are currently three in Cheshire that date back to 1994 and are almost at the 30-year limit for collecting the assets.

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The estate of Arthur Taylor, who died in Macclesfield, reaches the 30-year limit next month, while assets of Alice Mary Grundy – who also died in Macclesfield – and Terence James Kenneth Ryan, who passed in Crewe, need to be claimed in November and December respectively. Another estate deadline looming is German born Alfred Carl Dietrich who died in Vale Royal in May 1995.

Unclaimed estates, classed as ‘ownerless property’, occur when there is no will – or the beneficiaries of the will cannot be traced – and the next family member, following the rules of intestacy, cannot be found. People can apply up to 12 years after a person’s death with interest accrued on the money, or 30 years without interest. If no relative can be found within 12 years, the dormant estate becomes the property of the Crown, although it is still possible to make a claim if you are legitimately entitled.