A string of people could be entitled to a fortune through an unclaimed estate.

There are currently 67 estates in Brighton and Hove which have passed to the Crown as "ownerless property".

This means hundreds of thousands of pounds of inheritance could be "sitting in limbo" until the rightful heir is found.

The list shows the people in the city who have died with no will and with no known next of kin.

The Argus: Danny Curran of Finders InternationalDanny Curran of Finders International (Image: Finders International)

Danny Curran, managing director of Finders International, a genealogy firm, said: “As Christmas strains people’s finances we want to highlight to everyone in Brighton and Hove that more than 67 estates are waiting to be claimed from the government.

“In many of these cases, there are relatives still living in the area who may be entitled to claim the inheritance."

In general, estates held on the list can be claimed within a 12-year deadline, from the date the estate was taken into possession of the Crown.

The Treasury will allow claims up to 30 years from the date of the person’s death for unclaimed estates dating before 1997, subject to no interest being paid on the money that is held - if the claim is received after the 12-year period has ended.

The Treasury only advertises estates with a net value of £500 or above.

If you know someone has died and you believe you might have been left something, then you can simply search the probate records, or set up an alert for yourself, so that you know who to contact when the estate is dealt with.

The 45 Brighton names:

  1. Anderson
  2. Baker
  3. Barnett
  4. Bird
  5. Brooke
  6. BrownBudd
  7. Buettner
  8. Bulcraig
  9. Burt
  10. Clarke
  11. Connell
  12. Coult
  13. Crisp
  14. Crosbie-Parish
  15. Daly
  16. De Cavalho
  17. Dean
  18. Doyle
  19. Errath
  20. Evans
  21. Fabry-de-Neddy Nahas
  22. George
  23. Goode
  24. Goodwin
  25. Harnisch
  26. Harrington
  27. Hunt
  28. Ladyman
  29. Lambert
  30. Lashmer-Parsons
  31. Leahy
  32. Marlow
  33. McKeown
  34. McNamara
  35. Mohsenin
  36. Myers
  37. Nash
  38. Rennert
  39. Smith
  40. Smith-Simpson
  41. Sumray
  42. Wallis
  43. Wardle
  44. White
  45. Wilson

The 22 Hove names: 

  1. Alias
  2. Burke
  3. Cowling
  4. Dalby
  5. Davies
  6. Garba
  7. Gauthier
  8. Goddard
  9. Hiraeth
  10. Homewood
  11. Jones
  12. Loren
  13. Markando
  14. Martin
  15. McMahon
  16. Nese
  17. Parker
  18. Prince
  19. Rider
  20. Rogers
  21. Romero
  22. Wood