Lord Lucan vanished the night his children's nanny was killed in 1974, and the High Court declared him dead in 2016

John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, inherited a reputed £250,000 in 1964 and drew about £12,000 a year from family trusts. He lost an estimated £20,000 fighting his wife Veronica for custody of their children. On the night of 7 November 1974 the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, 29, was beaten to death in the family house at 46 Lower Belgrave Street. Veronica was attacked in the same house. She ran to the Plumbers Arms pub and said her husband had attacked her and admitted killing Rivett. Lucan was last confirmed at Uckfield early on 8 November. His Ford Corsair was found in Newhaven on 10 November with a lead pipe in the boot. In June 1975 an inquest jury returned the verdict "murder by Lord Lucan". By August 1975 he owed £45,000 in unsecured debts against assets of £22,632. The family silver sold in March 1976 for about £30,000. He was presumed dead in 1992 and probate was granted on 27 October 1999, but his son George was refused the title. On 3 February 2016 the High Court granted a death certificate under the Presumption of Death Act 2013, which covers a person not known to be alive for seven years. George became the 8th Earl. Veronica died on 26 September 2017 and left her money to the charity Shelter^†. In 2026 Lucan's body has never been found, and no one has been tried for the murder.