Public health funerals and Bona Vacantia

Treasury Solicitor - Bona Vacantia

If, after we have deducted the public health funeral and associated costs:

• the remaining estate is over £500
• there are no other bills outstanding
• no known next of kin
• the council refers the remaining estate to the Treasury Solicitor in accordance with their guidelines for referring 'Bona Vacantia' estates.

At this point, we will make information available to the public.

Freedom of information

We have experienced a huge rise in Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from companies offering to trace the next of kin of persons being buried under the Public Health Act 1948.

In response, we will use this page to make public all cases that are referred to the Treasury Solicitor. This will fulfil our obligation under section 22 of the FOI Act (future publication) and will from this point forward refuse all such requests and refer applicants to this web page.

Redactions

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 names and addresses have been redacted or withheld under the following two exemptions:

Section 21 – Information accessible to applicant by other means

Although I can confirm that North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) holds some of the information requested, NNC does not accept that it holds the information in its own right, but on behalf of the Treasury Solicitors' department.   Some details of the estate of those persons who have died have been passed onto the Treasury Solicitors' Department can be accessed via the Treasury Solicitors' website or at the Bona Vacantia website. 

Section 31(1)(a) - law enforcement (prevention and detection of crime)

North Northamptonshire Council will not disclose address details into the public domain where they relate to deceased’s empty properties as the property is likely to be unoccupied and might still contain the deceased's personal papers and effects. The Council does not believe it to be in the public interest to disclose information relating to empty properties prior to a full and thorough securing of the assets of the estate as undertaken by Treasury Solicitors.

Additionally, giving out the names of the deceased taken with other information easily available (i.e. the electoral roll, telephone directory entry, 192.com, etc) would make identifying properties fairly easy.

Last updated 05 July 2024