Will, Or No Will: That Is The Question
This week's article is not about a relative of mine, but it's information that you may find handy!
This week the UK Government released a probate and wills index on their site for England and Wales. You can search it for free, but if you want a copy of the will you will have to pay £10.
This great news for people interested in family history as previously the latest we could go with deaths was 2007, using the GRO Death Index, which is available on many sites. So if you have a feeling a relative may have past but aren't totally sure about it, this site may help.
However, we do have to remember that not everybody has a will or their case go to probate. So you may not be able to find them.
When you search you will have to type in the deceased's surname and the year they died. However, if you go on to 'Advanced Search' you can enter the forename also. If you don't know the year - type 2014, or a date about when you think they may have died, have a look at the results and if you can't see the person you're looking for you can click 'Previous Year', at the top of the search results.
Once you've clicked search, you will have to scroll down to view the results. There, you will be able to see the full name of the deceased, the date of probate (if applicable), a probate number, date of death, document type and where the probate was registered. You will also have the opportunity to but the record.
I should add, that the place of registry is not always where the person died, so don't go purely on the place.
Once done, you can search again!
To view wills from pre-1966 visit Ancestry.co.uk.
Published: 9 October 2014
This week the UK Government released a probate and wills index on their site for England and Wales. You can search it for free, but if you want a copy of the will you will have to pay £10.
This great news for people interested in family history as previously the latest we could go with deaths was 2007, using the GRO Death Index, which is available on many sites. So if you have a feeling a relative may have past but aren't totally sure about it, this site may help.
However, we do have to remember that not everybody has a will or their case go to probate. So you may not be able to find them.
When you search you will have to type in the deceased's surname and the year they died. However, if you go on to 'Advanced Search' you can enter the forename also. If you don't know the year - type 2014, or a date about when you think they may have died, have a look at the results and if you can't see the person you're looking for you can click 'Previous Year', at the top of the search results.
Once you've clicked search, you will have to scroll down to view the results. There, you will be able to see the full name of the deceased, the date of probate (if applicable), a probate number, date of death, document type and where the probate was registered. You will also have the opportunity to but the record.
I should add, that the place of registry is not always where the person died, so don't go purely on the place.
Once done, you can search again!
To view wills from pre-1966 visit Ancestry.co.uk.
Published: 9 October 2014
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