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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