Sealed Will

[ciderdrinker]

Good Morning
I've been doing my family history for some time now ,decades and I've never come across a sealde Will.I'm just interested in people's opinions on why this could be.
The Will in question is Isabel Catherine Kerziah Fowden 1961 .She died 9 Dec 1960 in Adelaide where she had lived with her husband Herbert since 1913. But she had £850 in England and this is on the England and Wales probate.
The Australian Will is available in the Archives of Victoria for free , if I happened to live anywhere near North Melbourne which I don't.
So what is the BIG secret those of us living in England can't see?
We in the family are thinking mad woman in attic ,long forgotten love child ,secret crime never to be spoken off .What could it be?

Any thoughts ?
ps if you happen to live in Melbourne and fancy a day out......

Ciderdrinker

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[CaroleW]

Have you actually tried ordering a copy from the probate website?

[ShaunJ]

You are misinterpreting the word "sealed".  It just means that the Probate Registry has recognised the foreign grant of probate as valid in England and Wales.   

Think about red sealing wax, seals of office and applying seals to documents. it doesn't mean it's hidden from view. A copy will cost you £1.50.

[ciderdrinker]

Thank you very much
So fingers crossed ,now I've sent for it ,it will come.
Brill

Thank you very much .Now I can see what she had left in England after nearly 50 years away.
All the best

Ciderdrinker

[Andy J2022]

Shaun is right about what sealed means in this context, but don't be surprised if you still encounter problems getting a copy of the will through the IronMoutain operated service. I recently tried to get a copy of a will for which probate was granted in Bermuda, and later sealed in London, and after some toing and froing I was referred to the HMCTS Probate Searches service in Leeds, who required the submission of a completed form PA1S 'Postal Search of the Probate records of England and Wales'. This process requires the payment of a £1.50 search fee for the grant (I had already paid this for the IronMountain service) plus a £3.00 standing search fee for the sealed will. The copy you get does not have the seal.

[ciderdrinker]

ok I will see what I get
But it's already cost £3 as their payment bit went down when I was paying.

Ciderdrinker

[Bookbox]

If I remember correctly, for a will proved elsewhere before 1963 and sealed in England, the probate registry here keeps a copy of the will for only 50 years. So they probably no longer have a copy of your will from 1961.

The copy you get does not have the seal.

Perhaps because it is not the will that is sealed, but the grant.

[ciderdrinker]

Good Morning
Lets hope that they do send a copy.
But we shall see

Ciderdrinker

[ciderdrinker]

Hi
I thought I'd report back about how things are going.
I've had a reply about my  order and apparently they won't send me a copy because it is sealed.
I'm told I should get in touch with their office in Newcastle.
There is a suggestion I may need to pay a personal visit.

As it was over 50 years ago they may waive the confidentiality bit and send me a copy.
All this seems a lot of hassle as the Australian copy of the Will is sitting on the open shelves at Melbourne.
Any one have any thoughts about it?
What could it be that we aren't allowed to know.

I know Isabel was born 1887 ,travelled out to Adelaide in 1913 to get married and died there in 1960.
How come she still had £800 left in England and what was it that had to be hidden at the time.
Her parents died 1919 and 1922 and there was some money in their Wills but not the sum mentioned.And surely whatever it was she was hiding must have happen in England before 1913.
Who would care in 1960?
Any advice please

Ciderdrinker