If you have one of these some 150 surnames or recognise any of these people you could be entitled to a fortune through these unclaimed estates in the North East.

The government website is updated daily with unclaimed estates - which come about when a person dies and does not leave instructions in a will or have family to inherit.

This is then known as ‘ownerless property’. 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.

You could be entitled to a share of a deceased relative’s property – type in your name into our table below of unclaimed estates with links to the North East and see if you are sitting on a fortune:

Here's a list of relatives who would be entitled to a share of an estate in this order:

1. Husband, wife or civil partner

2. children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on

3. Mother or father

4. Brothers or sisters who share both the same mother and father, or their children (nieces and nephews)

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5. Half brothers or sisters or their children (nieces and nephews of the half blood or their children). ‘Half ’ means they share only one parent with the deceased

6. Grandparents

7. Uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins or their descendants)

8. Half uncles and aunts or their children (first cousins of the half blood or their children). ‘Half’ means they only share one grandparent with the deceased, not both