People in the old county of Lancashire who die with no will and no kin leave their estates to the King, and the Guardian found the money refurbishing his rental property

In England and Wales the estate of someone who dies with no valid will and no heir under the intestacy rules goes to the Crown, usually through the Treasury Solicitor. If the person's last home was in the historic County Palatine of Lancaster, it goes to the Duke of Lancaster, who is the reigning monarch. In Cornwall it goes to the Duke of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales. The Lancaster right dates from a 1377 grant by Edward III to his son John of Gaunt. In 2011 the Law Commission recorded that the net proceeds in both duchies went entirely to charity. On 23 November 2023 the Guardian reported that the Duchy of Lancaster had collected about £61.8 million in ownerless estates over ten years. Leaked documents showed a change of policy in 2020. Money was spent on townhouses, holiday lets, rural cottages, farm buildings, barns and a former petrol station owned by the duchy and rented out for profit. One estate in the fund belonged to a former miner, a lifelong republican, who had protested at Orgreave. A duchy spokesperson said the King had reaffirmed that the money should not benefit the privy purse and is used for local communities, sustainability and the upkeep of qualifying historic buildings. That year the King received £26 million from the duchy, his first payment since inheriting it from Queen Elizabeth II.