Probate is the process of dealing with the property, money and possessions of a person who has died, usually laid out in their will. Probate records are a useful resource for family history because you can use them to confirm when your ancestor died and trace other members of their family who are named as heirs in their will. They can even provide you with a picture of your ancestor's life by showing how much property and money they owned, or reveal long-hidden family dramas such as relatives who were cut out of the will.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the process of handling probate through proving wills or granting administrations came from church courts such as the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. But from 12 January 1858 a civil Court of Probate for England and Wales was established, with the Principal Registry in London and numerous other district registries. The district registries sent copies of all Grants of Probate, and all wills associated with them, and all Grants of Letters of Administration to the Principal Registry where annual centralised indexes were prepared. These are known as the Probate Calendars, and are now all available to search online.
The Probate Calendars include those who left a will and those died intestate (with no will) but with an estate that had to be administered. Records that say 'Probate', 'Grant and Will', ‘Administration (Admon) with Will’ or just 'Will' refer to records where a will existed and was provided. Records that just say 'Administration' or ‘Administration or Grant’ refer to people who died intestate and for whom there is no will.
The arrangement and content of the Calendars has changed over time. Within the annual volumes, with names arranged alphabetically, wills and administrations are listed separately from 1858 to 1870. A single sequence starts in 1871. Note that the Calendars are arranged by date of probate, not date of death. Although probate was usually completed soon after the death there could be considerable delay, sometimes decades or longer.
For probate records from 1858 to 1891 you could get: the name of the deceased; their address and occupation (or “wife of”, “widow of” or “spinster” in the case of a woman); date and place of death; names, occupations and addresses of executors and their relationship (if any) to the deceased; and date of probate and name of the Registry. From 1892 to 1957, the probate records don't contain the address or relationship of the executors; and from 1959 to 1967 no details of husbands are included. More modern probate records include only the name, address and date of death of the testator, together with the date and place of the grant.
You can currently order probate records from the government’s Find a Will website for just £1.50 each.
To search for probate records, go to the website. There are three options to choose from: Wills and Probate 1858–1995; Wills and Probate 1996 to present (new probate records appear online approximately 14 days after the grant of representation has been issued); and Soldier’s Wills (1850–1986). Then enter the surname of the person you are searching and their year of death. If necessary, use the 'Advanced Search' page with the option to enter more information to further narrow down the search results.
You will then be shown a page of search results, which will enable you to click through to the probate calendar with the deceased individual's record on it. Note that some wills are difficult to search for following an upgrade to the website. To make it easier, you may have to use wildcards or change your use of quotation marks, spaces or other symbols in the search box. You may have to click through multiple pages of results. Then follow the prompts to add the will to your basket to purchase a copy.
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