I've just written to the Bono Vacantia department with a small family tree scrawled into the letter. My sister and I spotted our estranged grandfather's name in the bono vacantia list about 3 years ago. The surname is extremely unusual and the place of death matched what we knew but the DOB seemed wrong by two years so we didn't pursue it then. Our GF died just over 12 years ago (possibly as long as 14, not quite sure).
I decided to write to the treasury solicitor's department anyway just in case we had our facts wrong and it was the same person as our grandfather. Alas, his name is no longer on the list online- does that mean that his estate has been claimed by someone else?
It's a bit complicated as at the time my father was born, my gm was married to someone else and although the my father's paternity is obvious when you see photos of them, my father was technically someone else's child for the first 8 years of his life until his true parents married and he was formally recognised. My GM's first husband wouldn't divorce her so they had to wait, even though my GM and GF were living (very unhappily even by then!) together. Fast forward a few years and my GF predictably pushes off with a "fancy woman" with whom he stayed for the rest of his life but whom he never afaik married. My father is also afaik his father's only child.
My question is, does this sound as though it's in any way likely to succeed even if the person in question does turn out to be my GF? Is my father's illegitimacy at birth likely to be a problem? Many thanks in advance for any advice/info!