Genealogy Chat

could anyone please tell me if you die and you have no next of kin what happens to your belongings when you die, i know the house was a council house so do the council just come in and throw them all away or is anything saved . many thanks steph

It sounds as if you are speaking of a particular event. It might be worth finding out who registered the death and tracking down that person. I would imagine that any council officials would save any personal papers in the hope that family could be traced. Gwyn.

Hi Steph - I don't really know, but I would imagine that the Council would come in and just clear the house out ready for the next tenant. I can't imagine that anything would be saved.

many thanks for your replies yes i was talking about a particular event,on the death certificate the hospital registered it ,it would be nice to think that the council saved some things ,but it is probably unlikely still it wont hurt to try and find out many thanks steph

I've seen on life of grime tv prog, the council come in and sort through paperwork to try and establish next of kin, I don't think they do it to be nice, more a case of to get them to pay for the funeral rather than council paying Linda

I was thinking along those lines too, Linda. How recent was this Stephanie?

often a solicitor is left with doing the family stuff in the later years if no next of kin,I know my family solicitor goes to the folks home with new clothes etc,under a previous instruction.

If there is no next of kin whatsoever, then your property goes to the Duchy of Lancaster (i.e. the Queen) Suspect in reallity the council will clear it out and dispose as they see fit.

Depends if you make a will and make a solicitor executor of the will, then they would make arrangements for the contents of the property to be sold at auction and the proceeds given to whoever is mentioned in the will ie a charity. Lin

I know when I worked at a nursing home an elderly gentleman died who had no family. We stored some of his stuff for a year or two then it had to be disposed of as we didn't have any storage space. I kept (with permission) some of the papers, ration cards etc. because I thought it so sad that the old man should just disappear and not be remembered by anyone - sentimental prson that I am!!! But the stuff has been brought out and used at my childrens schools from time to time for history etc. so it's gone to a good home.

Carol, Perhaps it may be nice to put this old gentleman's name on this site, so that some living relative somewhere would know what happened to him? If it were me I would be glad to know that something of his still existed and was helping children with their history. Hazel

I read somewhere that if you die and no relatives can be traced then the Crown inherits your estate. How this would work in practice - I'm afraid I don't know. Don't think they can just chuck things in a skip until they've made reasonable efforts to see if any family members can be traced. L

I can tell you what happened at the council I worked for. I dont know if all councils are the same. Council informed of death. (by hospital almoner if no nok or friends.) Council clears out flat and puts everything except perishables into storage. Strenuous efforts are made to track down friends or relatives. After aresonable amount of time (cant remember how long) Goods are disposed .Any money made from any saleable goods is used to offset the cost of the funeral which the council have been obliged by law to arrange and pay for. Hope this helps.Sylvia

Stephanie,we had this problem in the family afew years ago. We were not aware that a cousin of my father in law lived nearby and had died. Two years after his death, we were contacted by the council, who to give them credit, had made a real effort to track down any family. There were no clues in his paperwork as to his relatives were. They had kept all his personal possessions and paperwork including a lot of family papers. It was such a shame they hadn't found us earlier as there were no mourners at his funeral. Apparently there had been a falling out in the family, forty years previously and no contact had been made since.

Never thought of that Hazel, good idea. I'll sk them out whn I've got a bit of time and put them on.You never know somone out there in genes landmight know him!! thanks