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Bona Vacantia
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The Duchy of Lancaster plays a special role in administering bona vacantia within the County Palatine.
In English law, title to property must belong to, or 'vest in', an identifiable person or body. No property or goods are ownerless. If legal ownership cannot be established by anyone else, it falls to the Crown to deal with the assets concerned. Such property or goods is known as 'bona vacantia'.
In most of England and Wales, the Treasury Solicitor handles such cases. In the County Palatine, title vests in The Queen in Right of Her Duchy of Lancaster. When a person dies within the County Palatine without leaving a will, the Duchy receives their estate as 'bona vacantia' in cases where other legal ownership cannot be established. Similarly, property in the County Palatine that has been disclaimed - escheated property - also vests in the Crown in Right of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Solicitor for the Affairs of the Duchy of Lancaster deals with cases of intestacy when no beneficiary entitled at law to claim an estate can be found, or on dissolution of a company which still owns assets. Such cases are administered by the Solicitor in accordance with the Administration of Estates Act 1925, the Companies Act 1985 and other relevant legislation. The procedures are substantially the same as those followed by the Treasury Solicitor elsewhere in England and Wales.
Whatever remains undistributed from a person's estate is the property of The Queen in Right of Her Duchy. Gifts may be made, on the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster's authority, to those who might reasonably have expected to benefit on a deceased's death. In the case of dissolved companies, this applies to those who could have claimed ownership had the company not been dissolved.
Remaining monies from bona vacantia, after allocations have been made for future liabilities and the cost of administering the scheme, are applied to the costs of Palatinate administration and historical obligations. After these costs have been deducted, the balance is paid into the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund or the Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust.
These separate registered charities have been set up with The Queen's consent.
The Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund, established in 1993, benefits a wide range of charitable associations and organisations operating within the County Palatine.
The Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust was constituted in 2001 to benefit charitable causes in all areas associated with the Duchy, both within and without the County Palatine. It will be used particularly to maintain the historic buildings on Duchy estates.
Contact
The Solicitor For the Affairs of the Duchy of Lancaster
Farrer & Co
66 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London
WC2A 3LH
Tel: 020 7242 2022
www.farrer.co.uk
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