Potentially life-changing sums of money are sitting unclaimed across the area, including cash bound that could belong to people from Burton, Uttoxeter, South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire.

Records published by the Treasury have revealed that there are 41 unclaimed estates with links to the region that could be worth some serious cash.

When people die without making a will, everything they owned, including their money, property, businesses and cars, is left behind unclaimed. Anything left behind is known as their 'estate' and could be worth a matter of pounds or run into the millions. Details on the value of estates is not available to the public.

Thousands of pounds could be waiting to be claimed

If a person dies without leaving a valid will, the following people are entitled to claim the estate:

  • husband, wife or civil partner
  • children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on
  • mother or father
  • brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews)
  • half brothers or sisters or their children (nieces and nephews of the half blood or their children).
  • uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants)

Across the UK, there are currently around 15,000 estates that are waiting to be claimed.

Anyone wanting to make a claim will have to be have to be able to be able to prove they were related to the person that has died.

Here are details on the people from the area who have died leaving unclaimed estates:

East Staffordshire

Burton

*Florence McIntosh died in Burton on February 23, 2002. Details about her date of birth or marital status are not known.

*Michael Ryan died in Burton at the age of 90. He was born on September 22, 1922 and died on January 10, 2013. He was a widower when he died after his wife, Doris Ryan, died.

*Kenneth Shepherd was 65 when he died in Burton. He was a bachelor and was born in the town on January 12, 1937.

*Dorris Smith, who was also known as Milly Smith, died in Burton on August, 1 2005.

*Thomas Zigmell Wojick was born in Poland on February, 23, 1933 and died in Burton on May, 26, 2001. He is believed to have been a widower at his time of death. He was also known as John Wojick or Zigmunt Wojick.

Uttoxeter

*Kenneth Allison was born in Uttoxeter on November 12, 1942 in Uttoxeter. He died in Stafford on December 21, 2014. Very little information is known about him.

*Violet Mabel Judy McClive died in Southend on Sea in Essex on June 27, 1988. Her maiden name was Royles and she was born in Uttoxeter on December 6, 1900.

*Joan Winifred Mary Williams was born on August 15, 1910 in Uttoxeter was Joan Winifred Mary Coyle. She married Islwyn Williams and died a widower in Horley, Surrey, on July 13, 1994.

Cheadle

*Michael Donnegan died in Cheadle, near Uttoxeter, on January 20, 2010. He is believed to have been a widower and was born on June, 6, in the Republic of Ireland.

North West Leicestershire

Ashby

*George Abbot died in Ashby on March 18, 1999. He was a bachelor born on August 9, 1915.

Staunton Harold

*Trevor James Von Hohenzollern was born in Sheerness in Kent on January 14, 1951 and died on January 21, 1995 in Staunton Harold.

South Derbyshire

Findern

*Timothy Paul Taylor died in Findern, Derbyshire, on October 15, 1994. His date of birth is not known.

If you recognise one of the names on this list, it might be worth doing a little bit of research and finding out if any of them were your long lost relatives.

To check the database yourself and make a claim visit here.