Bona Vacantia Division takes the issue of fraud against its assets very seriously and any suspected cases of fraud will be reported to the police. Those found breaking the law face a criminal record. As part of our ongoing work, BV Division is committed to making fraud harder to get away with and we are determined to detect and catch those who attempt it.
As part of our policy to combat fraud Bona Vacantia changed its policy in December 2007 concerning advertising the values of deceased's estates. Values of deceased persons estates are no longer publicised on our website or in our press advertisements. Our purpose in advertising is to try and find any relatives entitled to the estate in priority to the Crown. Including the value of the estate plays no role in this and indeed may help to put the estate assets at risk. In order to safeguard estates we will not be giving any information out about the size of an estate until a kin claim has been admitted by us.