Somerset Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Somerset Probate Records (view source)

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-[[England]] > [[Somerset]]
+[[England]] &gt; [[Somerset]]
 For an explanation of probate records in England, click [[England Probate Records|here]].
+== Getting Started  ==
+Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is&nbsp;distributed to his/her&nbsp;heirs.&nbsp;
+In order to find a probate record for your ancestor, you must answer&nbsp;two questions:
+#When did your ancestor die?
+#Where did your ancestor live or own property?
+A key date is 1858, when probate&nbsp;authority&nbsp;was&nbsp;taken&nbsp;from the ecclesiatical courts of the Church of England and given to&nbsp;the civil government.&nbsp;
+*If your ancestor died before 1858, his/her probate would have been proven by an ecclesiatical court and it is important to know where he/she lived, as that will determine which courts had jurisdiction.&nbsp;
+*If you know where your ancestor lived before 1858, you should go to the '''Court Jurisdictions'''&nbsp;section below&nbsp;to determine what courts had jurisdiction over your ancestor's place of residence.&nbsp;
+*Beginning in 1858, probate authority was&nbsp;vested in&nbsp;the '''Principal Probate Registry''' system.&nbsp; For more information, scroll to the '''Post-1857 Probate Records''' section at the bottom of the page.
+Once you have answered the two questions and determined the courts, look for indexes.&nbsp; Indexes will be found on the individual court pages (when you click on a court name) or in the '''Probate Indexes''' section below.<br><br>
 == Somerset Probate Courts  ==
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 For other place names, click on a letter link:&nbsp; [[Somerset Probate Jurisdictions B|B]], [[Somerset Probate Jurisdictions C through D|C-D]], [[Somerset Probate Jurisdictions E through J|E-J]], [[Somerset Probate Jurisdictions K through M|K-M]], [[Somerset Probate Jurisdiction Parishes N through R|N-R]], [[Somerset Probate Jurisdiction Parishes S through T|S-T]], [[Somerset Probate Jurisdiction Parishes U through Z|U-Z]].&nbsp;
 <br>
-{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="95%" align="center" border="1"
+{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="1" align="center" width="95%"
 |-
-! style="background: #ffdead" width="15%" | PARISH
+! width="15%" style="background: rgb(255, 222, 173) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" | PARISH
-! style="background: #ffdead" width="40%" | PRIMARY COURT
+! width="40%" style="background: rgb(255, 222, 173) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" | PRIMARY COURT
-! style="background: #ffdead" width="40%" | SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
+! width="40%" style="background: rgb(255, 222, 173) none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" | SECONDARY COURTS - IN SEARCH ORDER
 |-
 | Abbots Leigh
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 |}
 <br>
-== Probate Indexes Online<br> ==
+== Probate Indexes Online<br>  ==
 Before looking for a will, you should search an index.
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 *[http://www.gomezsmart.myzen.co.uk/ http://www.gomezsmart.myzen.co.uk/]&nbsp; (For&nbsp;wills or&nbsp;probate on this website, look under 'Property.')
 This site is concerned with family and social history in the Hundred of Frome. This consisted of the parishes of Beckington, Berkley, Cloford, Elm, Frome Selwood, Laverton, Lullington, Marston Bigot, Nunney, Orchardleigh, Rode (Road), Rodden, Standerwick, Wanstrow, Whatley and Woolverton. It also included the adjacent Liberties of East Cranmore, Leigh upon Mendip, Mells and Witham Friary and the Peculiar of Buckland Dinham (see map).&nbsp;<br>
 <br>
 Information about Somerset Probate Records:<br>
 *[http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Wills.htm http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Wills.htm]
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 Beginning in 1858, the government took over the&nbsp;settlement of estates and all&nbsp;wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system.&nbsp; The system consists of 11 district registry offices and&nbsp;18 sub-district registries, located throughout England and Wales, and&nbsp;the principal registry&nbsp;office located in London.&nbsp; The records are available through the office of Her Majesty's Courts Service.&nbsp; To learn more, go to the [http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/index.htm HMCS website].
 A&nbsp;country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post-1857 wills.&nbsp; The [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=208102&disp=Calendar+of+the+grants+of+probate+and+le%20%20&columns=*,0,0 indexes] for 1858-1957 and the [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=authordetails&authorno=301365&name=Great+Britain%2E+Principal+Probate+Registry&columns=*,0,0 records] for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.<br>
 [[Category:England|England]]