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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Cheshire => Topic started by: Beeonthebay on Wednesday 13 January 16 18:49 GMT (UK)
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Hello I'm a bit confused and looking for some help on wills and probate type stuff in simple laymans terms :)
Today on Ancestry on a hint for George POVALL who died in 1871 it threw up the probate record for 1872, I know you can get wills for £4 on the Cheshire Record Office site so off I went. I couldn't find him in a search and also noted that the site said you could look at them for free on Find My Past for which I have a subscription, so I went to FindMyPast and couldn't find him on there either.
So then I went to the government site where they charge you £10 for a will and sure enough there he is. This is not a direct ancestor of mine and I just wanted to buy it out of curiousity really. I'd prefer it for FREE (FindMyPast) or £4 not £10.
His brother John who died in 1874 has his will on both the Cheshire site and FindMyPast (I bought it quite a few years ago) as I checked today.
What am I doing wrong? Is it something to do with the type of will it is?
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Hi Beeonthebay,
I Have taken a quick look on the government beta probate site here: https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Povall&yearOfDeath=1872&page=3#calendar
There is only the one George Povall, who died on 4th November 1871 in Peckforton in the parish of Bunbury, Chester a shoemaker. Probate granted 22nd August 1872. Is this him? If so only 'administration of effects' was granted, there is no will. The probate record is all there is I'm afraid.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
David
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Hi Beeonthebay,
I Have taken a quick look on the government beta probate site here: https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Povall&yearOfDeath=1872&page=3#calendar
There is only the one George Povall, who died on 4th November 1871 in Peckforton in the parish of Bunbury, Chester a shoemaker. Probate granted 22nd August 1872. Is this him? If so only 'administration of effects' was granted, there is no will. The probate record is all there is I'm afraid.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
David
Yes that is him David and I thank you kindly for your post. I really don't understand all this stuff, so please bear with me :D so does this mean he didn't leave a will and it was left to "somebody" ?? to sort out his money (if any) after his death? If so why do some people have this "administration of effects" and not all people who die without leaving a will have one?
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Hi Beeonthebay,
As to your first question, it is probable that he (George Povall) did die intestate, ie, did not leave a will. As regards your second question re admin, it can be that the family left behind decide that applying for admin is not needed or required. There will probably be other reasons, but I am not fully au fait with probate rules myself.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
David
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If someone who dies intestate had very little to leave, it is not necessary to apply to probate for administration.
I deal with such a case six years ago, the deceased left barely enough in savings to cover the funeral, a couple of small insurance policies were paid out direct to the next of kin on production of the death certificate, they were small enough not to require Administration.
Jebber
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Church Courts stopped having responsibility for proving Wills and Administrations in 1858. After that date Civil Courts took over responsibility.
While some archives hold copies of some post 1858 wills, I understand from some archives websites that they aren't permitted to provide copies so Cheshire must have been an exception rather than the norm. If you want a copy of one post 1858, you will normally now have to pay £10. However, as has been said, if it says Administration and not Probate, you won't get any more information than is contained in the Calendar.
Some Administrations can involve large estates but without a Will, there won't be any detail.
Bee, the hint you got on ancestry was from the National Probate Calendar which relates to Wills and Administrations from mid 1858 onwards.
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Thank you very much everybody, I will pay more attention in future as I don't want to be wasting any money!! With genealogy you are always learning something new every day. ;D