Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the typical length of time that unclaimed money, owing to the death of a person who has no will and no known next of kin, may remain in an account before the State becomes involved and the longest period for which such an account has remained open following the death of the account holder. [37034/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 73 of the Succession Act 1965 provides that where a person dies intestate and without known next-of-kin the estate of that person shall be taken by the State as ultimate intestate successor. Where an estate falls to the State under Section 73 it is administered by the Chief State Solicitor under the direction of the Attorney General. Depending on the extent and nature of the estate this process may involve the extraction of letters of administration from the High Court and advertising for next-of-kin. When it is established that there are no known next-of-kin the proceeds of the estate are paid into the Intestate Estates Fund Deposit Account.

The length of time between the death of a person who has no known next-of-kin and who has not left a will comes to the attention of the State depends on the circumstances of the case, including whether or not any other person has knowledge of the existence of a bank account and of the death of the account holder. In any event an account will be considered to be dormant if it has been 15 years since the last customer-initiated transaction and the proceeds of the account would fall to be paid into the Dormant Accounts Fund.