Wills and Probate

  • Wills & Probate 1858-1996
    Search for the will or probate of any person in the UK who died between 1858 and 1996
  • National Archives Wills
    The National Archives Wills database gives you access to the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) wills in series PROB 11 made between 1384 and 12 January 1858. These PCC wills are all registered copy wills. They are the copies of the original probates written into volumes by clerks at the church courts.You can search the records for free and then pay to download a copy of the will in PDF format.
  • Death Duty Registers 1796-1811
    The Death Duty Registers 1796-1811 contain over 66,000 names of people who had a personal estate of over £20. Leases, freeholds and real estate were not liable to death duty so they don’t appear in the registers.
    What information do the records contain?
    – date and place of death of the person who died (testator or testatrix)
    – value of the personal estate of the deceased
    – name and place of abode of the executor or executrix
    – names of the inheritors and their relationship to the deceased (the legatees and residuary legatee)
    – any special arrangements
    – the amount of tax that was paid
  • British Army Soldiers Wills
    Search for the will of a soldier who died while serving in the British armed forces between 1850 and 1986 on the British government’s website.
  • Lichfield Wills Database (1516-1652)
    This Lichfield Wills Database comprises a transcription jointly by Paul Jones and Rosemary Lockie of Phillimore’s Calendar of Wills & Administrations in the Consistory Court of Lichfield, 1516-1652; plus a handful of Peculiar Courts, 1529-1790.The Lichfield Diocese for this period included the pre-1974 counties of Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire; and prior to 1541, the diocese of Chester.
  • Scotlands People
    Search wills and testaments, coats of arms, soldiers’ and airmen’s wills and the records of military service appeals tribunals.
  • Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives
    The IGPA has many wills for most counties and areas of Ireland.