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Is there anyway, in the UK, for an executor of a will to locate all the deceased person's assets? Or, to put it another way, how can one be sure that all the deceased person's assets have been located?

For example, suppose Mr A owns a 5-year bond and the only record of it is on a piece of paper, lost at the bottom a drawer, which never gets found. Moreover, suppose the deceased's spouse moves house before the bond matures and any correspondence concerning the bond is never forwarded to the new address and so no-one is alerted to he fact that he even owned the bond. What happens to the money?

I'm wondering if there is some sort of central register that can be scanned?

This is not just a hypothetical question.

bstpierre
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Derek Jennings
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2 Answers2

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I've had some time to investigate this and so I will answer my own question, as it may be of help to others.

One of the first things to do is examine all bank statements, as this may reveal in-goings and out-goings from a previously unknown source.

Secondly, get any mail redirected. Unfortunately, mail redirection is far from perfect in the UK but at least it increases one's chances of uncovering an unknown asset.

Lastly, there is Landmark FAS who will do a search for a fee of around £175.

Derek Jennings
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This page seems to be a good list of people to contact to trace unclaimed assets.

Ganesh Sittampalam
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