Wills can provide a lot of useful information about a person, including information about property they owned and relationships with others mentioned in the will.
For a will to be legally acted upon, it has to be “proved” – a judge has to rule that it contains the last wishes of the deceased. This process is called probate.
If someone died intestate (without leaving a will) the next of kin could apply for a grant of administration to gain control of the estate.
9.1 Useful Links
There are useful publications produced by the National Archives on wills:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/wills
There is a guide to obtaining probate records here:
https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate
You can find a will here:
https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
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