Genealogy Chat

Does anybody know if you can still go to the probate office and get a copy of a will or is it all done online now.

Thanks

It's all online now as the Probate Office research room in Holborn has now been closed.

Follow the link from here for Probate Calendar entries 1858-2014
Https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

Once you've found the corresponding entry you order online then when its made available download to your computer/print off.
The cost is now £10 per Will or Letter of Administration

If you've been able to order in person then wait, you've been lucky. At the London registry you had to order then collect the following day. You could contact the other Registries who issued the Grant to see if they handle things differently.

In the past I have been to London and waited 1 hour and collected wills. I haven't done much family history for a while and so now find that it's all changed.

I will have a look online and order.

Thanks
Maisy

I went there 2 years ago, at which time the notice said to order and come back the next day. It's probably all done to save costs. There was the option to have it posted.

My interest at the time was just to get the details, if available form the Calendar rather than to order a copy. Don't forget that not all Estates make it on to the Calendar!

You can actually glean a lot of useful informstion from the index at Https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
particularly for the years before 1996 when the format of the index changed.

Thank you for your replies. I will order online.

According to the latest Family Tree mag the London office was closing on 19th December. Regional search rooms will close when 'the new online service is operating satisfactorily'. There is also a suggestion that the postal applications from Leeds will also cease at some date.

The post 1996 search is also to be reviewed.

It would be a shame if the post 1996 entries review means that they are withdrawn.

There's no sum mentioned nor are the Executors named. With regional Registry Offices listed as issuing the Grant, it makes it even more difficult to identify the last residence if that was a researchers aim.

Unless less a random stranger wants to fork out £10, privacy is more or less guarenteed.

The article says ' At a meeting held on 2nd December at the London Search room, senior HMCTS managers met with users and acknowledged that the 1996+ search is not currently satisfactory and will be reviewed'.

It also says earlier in the article that users were disappointed that the results were less informative.

With regard to random strangers, I have seen it suggested that we can now all purchase wills of famous people to see what they have left. Privacy seems to be a thing of the past. : :-|

Well that's a relief! I was expecting the review to say less, not more :-)

With a few exceptions, we've always been able to purchase a copy of someone's Will. The only difference now is that it's easier.

I'd like the site to have 2 additional pages. One should be a map of the UK marked up with Registry Offices and their catchment areas, the other an explanation as to why not everyone's estate makes it on to the calendar.

We'll have to wait and see what if any changes are made. There are more important things for the Establishment to spend our money on.

Would the map really help? Sometimes I wonder if the Registry is actually where the executors are based rather than the deceased. The postal one I am waiting for gives an address for the deceased in one county but the will was probated in another. I found something similar in the listings for another person. Then you also have to remember that in WW11 the London Registry was moved to Wales.

A map could help, especially with the later probate entries where the principle residence isn’t mentioned. For instance, my parents both died in Kent, but the probate grant was issued in Brighton, Sussex. Neither I, the solicitor nor them lived any where near the county border.

At least one record for a twig that had connections with Southend Essex, appears to have their grant issued in Ipswich. As they died after 2007, there is no online gro index to check the county of death.

I take your point that the solicitor handling the legalities could choose to use a register office closest to their place of business – that is also something that could also be explained on the site.

Anyway, if the consultation period has closed, we’re just shooting the breeze. ;-)

That's interesting. One of the two was a North Kent/Brighton one. The deceased HAD lived in the Brighton area but spent her last year with a family member in Kent.
The one I'm waiting for was a death in Lincoln but probate in Wakefield.