What documents do I need to claim a Bona Vacantia estate?

The starting point is the death certificate of the person named on the Bona Vacantia list. This confirms who died, when, and where — and links the entry on the BV list to a real individual.

Death certificates can be obtained from the General Register Office (GRO) in England and Wales. You will need the full name, approximate date of death, and district of registration. The GRO's online service allows you to order certificates by post.

If you cannot find a death certificate, probate records may contain equivalent information and can be searched online through the government's probate search service.

You will need your own birth certificate to prove who you are and to establish your place in the family tree.

If you were born in England or Wales you can order a certified copy from the GRO. If you were born in Scotland, Ireland, or another country, you will need to obtain the certificate from the relevant national registry.

The key documents are those that trace the family relationship between you and the deceased step by step. Each link in the chain needs a certificate.

For example: if you are claiming as a first cousin, you need to establish that your grandparent was also the grandparent of the deceased. That means you need the birth certificates of the deceased and your parent (proving they shared a grandparent), plus your own birth certificate, and the marriage certificates of the marriages in between if surnames differ.

As a general rule, you need a certificate for every birth, death, and marriage that forms part of the connecting chain. Missing certificates can sometimes be substituted with other evidence (census records, church registers, statutory declarations), but certified certificates are always preferred.

If you are claiming as the spouse or civil partner of the deceased, you need the marriage or civil partnership certificate showing that the legal relationship existed and had not been dissolved.

If any ancestor in your connecting chain changed their surname through marriage, you will need the relevant marriage certificate to bridge the name change.

You will need to prove your own identity as the claimant. The GLD typically requires a current passport or driving licence, plus a recent utility bill or bank statement showing your current address.

If you instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf, they will carry out identity verification as part of their anti-money laundering obligations.

The General Register Office issues certified copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates registered in England and Wales from 1837 onwards. You can order online, by post, or in person.

For older records not yet digitised, you may need to visit the local register office for the district where the event was registered, or a county archive. The FindMyLegacy document request letter generator can help you draft a formal request to the GRO.

Allow several weeks for certificates to arrive. If you need them urgently, priority services are available at extra cost.

In addition to official certificates, your file will be stronger if you can include supporting genealogical research: census records, electoral rolls, newspaper announcements, and entries from online family history services such as Ancestry or FindMyPast.

These records are not a substitute for official certificates, but they can help confirm family relationships where certificates are difficult to obtain, and they demonstrate to the GLD that you have conducted thorough research.