§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases, in each of the last four years, the proceeds of the estates of deceased persons reverted to the Inland Revenue. [11852]
§ Dawn PrimaroloWhere a deceased person dies intestate and without entitled blood relatives the estate falls to be dealt with by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the Crown. In each of the last four years an average of 1,700 estates have been referred to the Treasury Solicitor, but not all of these revert to the Crown as in about a third of cases a will or relatives are traced.