Hundreds of people have died without a will in Cambridgeshire - find out if you're set to inherit

In Cambridgeshire 220 people have died with no will or known family, leaving their possessions in the hands of the governement.

Now lawyers are letting you know how to find out if you could be in line to inherit one of these estates.

Probate lawyers Finders International, who feature on the BBC's Heir Hunters, have totted up the number of these unclaimed estates in Cambridgeshire, and picked out some names from the list.

Names featured on the latest list, known as the Bona Vacantia or "vacant good" list, include:

• Mary Elizabeth Willows: born June 1930, died in St Neots in November 2018, aged 88, and was added to the list in December,
• Anthony Bates: died in Cambridge last February, aged 77, and had his estate listed as unclaimed in September 2018,
• Albert Mann: died in Cambridge in March 1989, the estate is still unclaimed almost 30 years after the date of death and will revert to the Crown in March this year if it remains unclaimed,
• Michael Lambert of Peterborough,
• Regina Slapansky of Huntingdon,
• Kenneth Telford of Cambridge,
• and Peter Haughey of Cambridge.

Other surnames on the list include: Ebden, Pilgrim, Gletcher, Rayson, Potter, Laws, Stenning, Ogden and McGowan.

When somebody dies without a will their estate becomes a 'vacant good'. Bona Vacantia is the name given to the ownerless estates that are then passed to the Crown.

Family members and possible heirs only have 12 years to claim an estate once it has been reported unclaimed to the Crown.

Danny Curran, star of BBC Heir Hunters and managing director of Finders said: "These estates are waiting to be claimed from the government, who are sitting on the fortunes of over ten thousand people across the UK."

Funding to the Bona Vacantia division was cut in 2014, which means there is no search for a will before the estate is posted on the list of unclaimed estates.

Before the funding cut, the government would search for a will before listing the estate as 'ownerless', which may explain the increase in the number of listings. There are currently 9,000 listings nationwide.

Danny said: "Valid wills do exist for approximately one in every five cases currently being advertised by the Government as intestacies. Many relatives are being needlessly traced only to find their expectations are dashed.

"The solution to this escalating problem is simple: The Bona Vacantia division should revert to an inexpensive Will search prior to advertising esates.

"Where valid Wills are found, the estate does not need to be advertised. This would also ensure the deceased's wishes are met."

For anyone without next of kin, there is a free-to-use Central Probate Registry that can hold your Will securely and without charge.

To see the entire searchable list visit the Bona Vacantia List website here.