IWC are regulated by the Society of Will Writers and Estate Planning Practitioners

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Will Data Authorised Registrar
IWC Estate Planning
& Management Ltd is
Registered in England
No 4532330
Finding Wills

Finding Wills

IWC makes finding wills easy, you can order probate records online and benefit from the wealth of exciting information to be found the will of an ancestor. Provide us with your ancestor's name, date of birth and date and place of death and we'll conduct the genealogy researchon your behalf.

Our trace a will service will search the probate archive records and provide you with a copy of any will or letters of administration for a fixed fee of just £49 plus VAT.

Wills and Genealogy Research

Wills contain lots of vital genealogical information, offering important clues and providing new avenues for research. The most obvious of which being the bequests, these may list the names of the deceased's wife, children and other family members. Finding wills is helpful to confirm these relationships and that the beneficiaries were still alive at the time of writing.

Probate archives from 1858 onwards contain far more information than the death register.  This can include addresses, clues to their occupation, property owned and evidence of family members who immigrated.

Probate records are very personal in nature and finding wills offers a rare opportunity to actually 'hear' the words of your ancestor.  In most cases, a will is the only written record that will have been left by our ancestors (even though it may have been written by a solicitor).

Information you May Discover by Finding Wills

  • Marital Status
  • Name of Spouse
  • Names of Children
  • Names of Grandchildren
  • Burial Place or Preferences
  • Clues about trade or occupation
  • Residences of your ancestor and living descendants
  • Locations where your ancestor owned property
  • Clues to the deaths of other family members
  • Inventory of items owned by the deceased
  • Relationships between family members
  • An indication of the wealth and lifestyle of the deceased
  • Your ancestor's signature

Use probate specialists IWC for finding wills and for a low-cost, one off fee you can have all this information at your fingertips.

Note - The finding wills service is not designed to search for missing wills. If you need to search for a missing Will please contact us on 0800 612 6105.

Advice for Reading Wills

As with the census, be careful not to interpret terms such as cousin, in-law, niece, step or half the way we would today as relationship terms have differed throughout the ages.

It was quite common for men to gift their legacy during their lifetime, particularly in the case of eldest sons. If you see that someone has inherited just 1 shilling, don't assume that this person was an outcast. It probably signifies that he/she has already received their inheritance.

Don't make similar assumptions when you see bequests have been made of bed linen or brass wear. At the time these were valuable items. You may find names of many household items and tools that you don't understand or recognise, this is all part of the fun!

What happens if my Ancestor did not Leave a Will?

In the event that no will was left, the next of kin would have applied for a grant of Letters of Administration (Admon) to take control of the deceased estate. These were obtained from the court or registry. Don't be disappointed if your finding wills search does not uncover a copy of the will. Probate registry documents should still contain:

  • Name
  • Date of Death
  • Place of Death
  • The Address of the Deceased (when the will was made)
  • Date the Probate was issued
  • Which Registry it was Issued at
  • Names, addresses and sometimes the occupation of the administrators
  • Value of the estate - The exact gross and net estate figures when inheritance tax was paid. The net estate worth is shown for excepted estates and rounded up to the nearest £1000.

For finding wills and obtaining the probate records of your ancestors, complete our form, enter as much information as you can and let IWC do the rest.