Wales Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Probate records are court records dealing with the distribution of a person’s estate after death. Information recorded may include the death date, names of heirs and guardians, relationship, residence, inventories of the estate (including trade and household goods), and names of witnesses. Any person, regardless of class or wealth, may have left a will or might be mentioned in one.  

*Omit the name of the eldest son who received his inheritance according to law, others who previously received their inheritance, or deceased family members.

=== Types of Probate Records  ===

'''Admon with Will.''' This record grants administration to someone else when the executor named in the will is deceased, unwilling, or unable to act as executor. A copy of the will is attached.<br>.  

'''Bond.''' A bond is a written guarantee that a person will faithfully perform the tasks assigned to him by a probate court. The executor posted a testamentary bond, the administrator posted an administration bond, and the guardian of a minor child posted a bond of tuition or curation.  

=== Laws and Customs  ===

Before 1750 heirs often did not prove wills to avoid court costs. The will was often kept in case someone later objected to the distribution of the property. As a result, sometimes wills were probated decades after the testator’s death. Some archives have collections of unproved wills. Others may be among family papers.  

Here is a list of the counties of Wales and the courts that had primary jurisdiction over all or part of them: (Click on a county name to learn more.)  

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| '''COUNTY'''  

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=== Availability  ===

Original wills in Wales have survived from 1565, depending on the court where they were probated. The courts have a continuous run of wills from then until 1858, when ecclesiastical probate courts were abolished.  

*'''Bangor''': 1635 - 1858

== Post-1857 Probate Courts  ==

=== Estate Duty Wills and Administrations  ===

=== Locating Probate Records  ===

*Determine when and where the will might have been proven.

=== Determining the Court  ===

*''Handlist of Probate Records Pertaining to the Diocese of St. David’s'', ''St. Asaph, Bangor, and Llandaff, Wales and of the Peculiar and Exempt Court of Hawarden, Flint County.'' Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1970. (Family History Library {{FHL|405695|title-id|disp=book 942.9 S2w; fiche 6054481}}.) This work contains color-coded maps to help determine the courts in which an estate would be proved. It also lists call numbers for indexes, wills, and administrations that apply to each court.

=== Indexes  ===

The index lists the name of the person who left the will (testator), the parish and abode, the occupation, and the references needed to go directly to the correct page in the wills.  

The index is listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:  

==== '''DIGITAL, ONLINE AND INDEXED PRE-1858''' <u>'''FOR FREE'''</u>  ====

;'''WALES - PROBATE RECORDS - INDEXES'''

;'''Searches of these indexes for all pre-1858 probate records can be made on the National Archives Website under the repository of the National Library of Wales by name, place and Court jurisdiction.'''

'''Principal Probate Registry.'''From 1858, all the wills and administrations that were proved in any of the district courts in Wales were indexed in the ''Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration'' made in the Principal Registry (see England and Wales Principal Probate Registry Including: General Index 1858–1957 Principal Registry 1858–1925 District Courts 1858–1925 in this section). The indexes include an abstract of the probate document with the date proved and the name of the court in which it was proved. These indexes are available online for the years 1861-1941 (with gaps, see site for details) for both wills and administrations at ancestry.com under search Tax, Criminal, Land, and Wills records [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1904 Will and Administration Searching].  

The Family History Library has an excellent collection of Welsh probate records and indexes, including most pre-1925 wills and indexes for wills and administrations.  

'''WALES - PROBATE RECORDS'''  

;'''WALES, [COUNTY] - PROBATE RECORDS - INDEXES'''

:'''ENGLAND - PROBATE RECORDS'''  

:'''ENGLAND - PROBATE RECORDS - INDEXES'''

*''Hand List of Probate Jurisdictions in Prerogative Court of Canterbury (P.C.C.)'' and ''Filmed and Printed Probate Records Pertaining to Prerogative Court of Canterbury in the Genealogical Society Library''. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1967. (Family History Library {{FHL|423223|title-id|disp=book 942 S2ha vol. 23; film 599220; fiche 6026312}}.) This work contains call numbers for indexes and probate documents for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. At the front of this register is a list of printed indexes. These indexes give the testator’s name and place of residence along with the year and folio where the original is located.

England Website: [http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/basics/probateoffices.htm http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/basics/probateoffices.htm]  

'''Probate Search Rooms'''  

Website: [http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1226.htm http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1226.htm]  

Sometimes solicitors (attorneys) kept will books, copies of wills they had prepared for clients. These books have often found their way into record offices. The books may include wills that were later revoked or never probated.  

=== Difficulties in Locating a Pre-1858 Record  ===

*In many courts, there are separate indexes for administrations and wills. Search both indexes.

*Your ancestor’s probate may have been used as evidence in another court action. Other courts, such as the Court of Common Pleas or the county quarter sessions, may have probated or received a copy of the will.

*''A List of Wills, Administrations, Etc''. ''in the Public Record Office'', London, England: 12th–19th Century. Baltimore: Magna Carta Book Company, 1968. (Family History Library {{FHL|426785|title-id|disp=book 942 S2po}}.)

To overcome the above problems, search the records of all probate courts having jurisdiction over the areas where the individual had property. You may also need to extend your search several years after the individual’s death.<ref>The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ''Research Outline: Wales'' (Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President, 2000), 57-61.</ref>  

*[[Wales, Probate Abstracts (FamilySearch Historical Records)]]

*[http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=1&coll_id=77933&expand= Archive Network Wales]

== Sources  ==

  {{Place|Wales}}

[[Wales, Llandaff Probate Abstracts (FamilySearch Historical Records)]]  

[[Category:Wales|Probate Records]]