English: Probate Records

Course Content

MODULE 1 

INTRODUCTION
FamilySearch
Introduction to Probate Records

MODULE 2
WILLS

Making a Will

• Who Could Make a Will?
• How and when was a Will made?
• Nuncupative Wills
• Revocation by Marriage

Contents of a Will

• The Preamble
• The Text and Any Codicils

Types of Legacies

• Executors, Trustees & Overseers
• Attestation & Witnessing
• Codicils
• Evidence from Witnesses

Probate Act or Grant of Probate

• After the Probate
• Encumbered Estates
• Lapsed Legacies

Reading Wills

• Valuations of Estates

Recording the Contents of a Will

• Transcribing & Abstracting

Longest & Shortest Wills
Expect Surprises!
Other Laws Affecting Wills

MODULE 3
ADMINISTRATIONS
When is an Administration Needed?
Who Can Be an Administrator?
Procedure for Administration
Intestacy Rules
What Records Were Kept?
Information in an Administration
Probate & Administration + Will
 

MODULE 4
PROBATE MATERIALS

Other Probate Materials

• Non-Deposited Probate Records
• Probate Accounts

Disputes over the Validity of a Will

MODULE 5
FINDING PROBATES
Locating Probate Records

What you need to start a search for a specific will

• Finding Probates from 1858
• Obtaining the Will and Probate
• Finding Probates Before 1858
• How to Find the Right “Chain” of Courts
• Church Court Records
• Lower Courts (Peculiar, Dean, Archdeacon & Bishop)
• Indexes and Where to Find Them
• Prerogative Court of York
• Prerogative Court of Canterbury
• Other Will Collections
• Other Sources

Reasons for Not Finding a Will

MODULE 6
DEATH DUTY RECORDS

Estate Duty Office Registers

• Genealogical Value of Death Duties

Death Duty Records

• Using Death Duty Abstracts

Isle Of Man & Channel Islands Probate

• Channel Island Probate

Welsh Wills
Conclusion
Additional Reading