Scottish Unclaimed Estates

In Scotland it is the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Rembembrancer Office that deal with unclaimed Scottish estates on behalf of the Crown. They also publish details of the unclaimed estates on the QLTR website.

Since the Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force in March the claim process in relation to Scottish unclaimed estates has been made somewhat simpler. In the past you were required to obtain a ‘Bond of Caution’ to make a claim in relation to a Scottish estate however there are now circumstances where the bond is no longer required either for the claims process or for Scottish court purposes.

A ‘Bond of Caution’ is a form of insurance provided by a limited number of companies. The firm Zurich were one of the main providers of the bonds however they pulled out of the market in February. Royal & Sun Alliance are another firm that deal with bonds although they have said that they would only provide executry bonds in relation to an estate if a Scottish firm of solicitors applied to them on behalf of the executor.

Following the introduction of the Succession (Scotland) Act there are circumstances where you are no longer required to provide a Bond of Caution to the Sheriff Court when you apply for ‘Confirmation’. ‘Confirmation’ is a legal document issued by the court giving an executor authority to deal with the estate of the deceased.

The simplified court procedure can be used where the estate is regarded as a small estate (value under £36,000) and the estate inventory has been prepared by a sheriff clerk. QLTR who deal with estate claims have said that they would no longer insist on a Bond of Caution for their purposes if a bond was not required to obtain Confirmation.

If you would like any assistance to deal with unclaimed estates in Scotland give us a call or email us at claims@theheirhunters.co.uk