If you are fuming over the Dispatches doc about the Duchies

[1000umbrellas]

...please make sure you have a will if you live in greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and parts of Cumbria:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/23/revealed-king-charles-secretly-profiting-from-the-assets-of-dead-citizens
Unlike in the rest of the UK where the estates of people who die intestate eventually end up with the treasury, in these areas they go to the Duchy. When this report came out last year the Duchy did protest that a lot of it went to charity, which you can read here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67519147

Also if a company registered in either of the Duchies is dissolved its assets pass to them.

This ⬆️

My father was a solicitor in Cornwall and had a big sign in his reception saying “Make your Will - don’t buy Camilla a new hat!”

He was also very angry about the state of repair of Duchy owned rental properties and has said for decades that they are b*$$@}< landlords.

@NottsNora your father is my hero! 😊

He sounds like a good man.

Also Cornwall if you don't want to buy Catherine a new hat.

There arrangements have been going on for centuries, but it seems people are still taken by surprise.

Make a Will!

Everyone should

I think we had quite a long thread on this when it was first highlighted.

But yes.

Renovations to your own property portfolio on the back of dead subjects and positing same as 'charity' is the most appalling look.

Appears there's no-one they won't fleece...

Yes, I think I first read about it a year ago, I was surprised when they didn't touch upon it in the programme. Especially given that apologists will say (and are saying on some of the other threads about the documentary) that they're not doing anything different to any other big landlord or landowner.

This is not new information; as a Lancashire lass I knew about this well before I married (45 years ago). And if you die intestate, certainly in Lancashire, there are lots of efforts made to find people to inherit the estate; my sister and I inherited my father's estate even though he had no will, it just took longer to sort out. Money to the Duchies of Lancaster/Cornwall is a last resort but please do make a will people!

It was mentioned in the Times article I linked that covered the programme.

It should be noted that a significant portion of bona vacantia funds are secretly being spent on renovating properties owned by the king that are rented out for profit by his estate.
And Duchy of Lancaster collected nearly £62M over a decade. King says it goes to charity, well, not exactly... just 15% went to charity, the rest for renovations and upkeep, much like the Savoy Chapel in central London

This helps explain
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/24/kings-estate-facing-questions-over-14m-in-bona-vacantia-not-donated-to-charity

@BustingBaoBun that's an interesting article although I would query the statement that the "assets of people who die with no will or known relatives" go to the Duchies of Cornwall or Lancaster, that is inaccurate. In comparison the Treasury received £77 million 2023-24 of bona vicantia funds, roughly 10x pa that received by the Duchies of KC/PoW.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/accounts-for-the-crowns-nominee-for-the-year-ended-31-march-2024/140d433f-8e16-4f36-9db4-665e15665b5c

I like your father 😁

I would query the statement that the "assets of people who die with no will or known relatives" go to the Duchies of Cornwall or Lancaster, that is inaccurate.

Can you explain what is inaccurate?

It's very clear both Duchies are benefiting from the estates of intestate residents, Lancaster to the tune of an average £6m a year. There's also a very substantial amount deriving from said estates being held in unexplained reserves which are no doubt earning a reasonable amount of interest in their own right.

It's only the estates of people who live in the Duchies but these comprise massive areas, including greater Manchester and Liverpool for Lancaster. It's a privilege that no other big landowners in the UK enjoy.

@CathyorClaire
Can you explain what is inaccurate?

The first Guardian article in the OP states assets of people who die with no will or known relatives will go to the DoC/L. King’s estate facing questions over £14m in ‘bona vacantia’ not donated to charity It's wrong because this suggests that if you die either with no will, or without heirs, your estate goes to the DoC/L.

Actually if you die with no will your relatives can still inherit your estate, it does not automatically go to the Duchies.

If you have no will AND no known relatives then your estate may go to the DoC/L, or to the Treasury if you live outwith Lancashire, Cheshire etc.

I think it's referring to those estates where no relatives can be found after enquiries have been made.

The Duchies have always kept an amount in reserve in case relatives come forward later. This amount though would appear to be considerably higher than necessary.

There was a thread about this at the time of the article.

So hopefully MNetters are well clued up on the need to make a Will, because without one and with no discoverable relatives who would inherit under intestacy laws, your estate goes to government - depending where you live that might be the Treasury or the Crown (in the form of the duchies of Lancaster or Cornwall)

Duchy of Lancaster Theft | Mumsnet

And of course it is in itself a good thing to have a Will.

So sad and vulgar

It’s pretty shocking.
All that can really be said for the current head of state arrangement is that it’s better in my view than having any of the current lot of politicians as our figurehead.
It might be preferable to pay the monarch a salary as head of state and nothing else. No tax or other exemptions from statute whatsoever. That includes full application of bribery law.