Loom resources · England & Wales
Why Is My Bona Vacantia Inheritance Taking So Long?
What may be causing the delay, who is actually responsible for each stage, and the questions that get you a useful answer.
You’ve found the estate.
The family connection has been established.
Everyone agrees you’re related.
So... where’s the money?
Unfortunately, finding an unclaimed estate and establishing who the family is can be only the beginning of the process.
There may still be an administrator to appoint, a Grant of Letters of Administration to obtain, assets to collect or sell, debts and taxes to settle, other entitled relatives to identify and a final estate to distribute.
Which means the most useful question usually isn’t: “How much longer is this going to take?”
It’s: “What exactly are we waiting for?”
- Connection established
Who to ask: Researcher or heir hunter
What you can do: Confirm what you know
- Claim accepted
Who to ask: BVD
What you can do: Supply requested evidence
- Administrator / grant
Who to ask: Administrator
What you can do: Check the probate record
- Collect & realise assets
Who to ask: Administrator or their solicitor
What you can do: Nothing, usually
- Debts & tax
Who to ask: Administrator
What you can do: Be patient — this protects you too
- Verify entitled beneficiaries
Who to ask: Administrator
What you can do: Help contact known relatives
- Distribution
Who to ask: Administrator
What you can do: Keep your details current
There isn’t one single reason a Bona Vacantia inheritance can take time.
The trick is working out which one applies to yours.
The family is still being established
Knowing that you are related doesn’t necessarily mean everybody entitled has been identified.
- There may be other branches of the family to investigate.
- A deceased sibling may have had children.
- Someone may have remarried and changed surname.
- A relative may be known to exist but hasn’t yet been located.
The family tree can become considerably wider than the handful of people initially contacted.
Evidence is still outstanding
A family tree is a map of the relationship.
Documents help prove it.
There may still be birth, marriage or death certificates to obtain, identity checks to complete or questions around a particular branch of the family.
If somebody has asked you for evidence, getting it back promptly is one of the most obvious things within your control.
Nobody has the grant yet
Where Letters of Administration are required, the administrator may need the grant before they can properly start dealing with certain estate assets.
You can check the public probate records for England and Wales to see whether a grant has been issued.
Don’t assume that because the family has been found, somebody already has authority to deal with everything.
The estate itself is being administered
Once the administrator has authority, there can still be quite a shopping list.
- Bank accounts may need to be closed.
- Investments may need dealing with.
- Property might need to be sold.
- Money owed to the deceased may need collecting.
- Debts have to be settled.
- Tax positions may need finalising.
- Estate accounts have to be prepared.
And only the remaining estate is available for distribution.
If there’s a house involved, the family being identified doesn’t magically turn bricks into cash.
Other relatives are still being dealt with
The administrator needs to distribute the estate correctly amongst the people entitled to it.
That can mean dealing with several family branches and making sure the right people have been identified.
Which brings us to something you might actually be able to help with.
Put the tree to work
Your family tree shouldn’t just sit there.
Put it to work.
Put my family tree to workLoom identifies potential connections. It does not establish legal entitlement, guarantee inheritance, file claims or prove a relationship.
Official sources