England Probate Records: Difference between revisions

England Probate Records (view source)

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 == Estate Duty Wills and Administrations  ==
-Beginning in 1796 a tax was levied on probates of estates valued over £10. Copies of the probate documents were filed with the Estate Duty Office in London when the tax was paid. Various exceptions made over the years on who should pay the duty could have exempted the tax from being paid and a will from being filed. These records are especially helpful for research in the counties of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, where local probate records have been destroyed.&nbsp; For more information, see below under 'Indexes' and under 'Finding Records in the Family History Library.'
+Starting in 1796, a tax or death duty was payable on many estates with a certain value. The amount levied varied according to the relationship of the beneficiary to the deceased. Very small estates and those who died serving their country were excluded from paying the required duty.
+Estate duty abstracts may add considerable information not found elsewhere. They show the name, address and last occupation of the deceased. They may contain information about the beneficiaries and their relation to the deceased. A register could be annotated for many years, possibly listing date of death of the spouse, marriage and death dates of beneficiaries, births of children or grandchildren born after the duty was paid, and cross references to other entries.
+Read more about these records in the research guides produced by [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The National Archives in England].<br>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=107 Death Duty Records, From 1796].<br>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=245 How to Interpret Death Duty Registers].<br>
 == Locating Probate Records  ==