Names of 58 Dead Nigerians with Unclaimed Estates in the UK

There are 6,744 unclaimed estates in the United Kingdom as of September 17, 2022, according to a comprehensive list published and updated by the UK’s Legal Department, Treasury Solicitor, as seen by Infomediang Team.

The unclaimed assets are owned by different nationals including 58 Nigerians whose property has been laying in the country and remain unclaimed by any members of the deceased family.

Information to trace the deceased property

Useful information provided by the UK government is the Forename (first name) of the owner; Surname (last name) of the owner; Date of Publication; Date of Death; Place of Death; Maiden Name; Marital Status; Spouse, and Date of Birth.

Others are Date of Marriage; Place of marriage; Nationality; Religion; Date entered UK; Date of Naturalisation; Date of divorce; Kin or Other Details, and Bona Vacantia (BV) Reference

What is Bona Vacantia in UK Legal System?

BV for short, Bona Vacantia’ is a UK legal name used to identify properties that are unclaimed for a specific number of years and therefore passed to the Crown.

Simply put, it is a name given to a property, assets, or estates that are unclaimed by the original owner and any member of their family.

Family members that are entitled to a deceased property include: Wife, husband, or civil partner; children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren; mother or father; brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father; uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants) etc

Who are the dead Nigerians whose property is unclaimed in the UK?

The list contains 6,744, but 58 of the property owners are Nigerians who have died as can be seen below:

Has any claim been made?

A week after the list was updated on September 8, 2022, research shows that none of the deceased families has come to make a claim.

A familiar name on the list is Victor Adedapo Olufemi Fani-Kayode. The record says he was born in Lagos, Nigeria on January 20, 1926. The UK government said he died as a bachelor on August 15, 2001, in West Midlands Birmingham.

Fani-Kayode is a popular family name that has been very active in Nigeria’s political system since the first republic. But we can’t verify if the name is related to the same family.

Making a claim

The government has also updated its guidelines on how to claim a deceased persons’ property, failure to do so 30 years after the owner died, will lead to forfeiture to the Crown or UK government.

Conclusion:

The aforementioned unclaimed estates’ list in the UK should help family members to track and search the details of the deceased.

Reference:

Photo illustration by Mike B

UK Legal Department (September 8, 2022). “Statistical data set: Unclaimed estates list”. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk (Downloadable CSV, 1020 KB)