Canada, British Columbia, Wills, 1861-1981
Images of will indexes and wills. Although the index spans 1861-1981 this collection contains wills for 1861-1939. Central will registry maintained by the Department of the Attorney General for all wills probated in the province of British Columbia. The number for each will is written in the upper right-hand corner of the first page of the will in small script. Some wills are missing from the collection. The will numbers are listed in the indexes under the "Remarks" column, and NOT the "Wills" column. Some letters of the alphabet are continued at the end of the index volume. The index to these wills is also the index to the Victoria probate registry district records.
Canada, British Columbia, Wills
What is in This Collection?
This collection includes probate records from 1861 to 1981. Probate records were kept by probate or surrogate courts. Often the size of the estate determined which court held jurisdiction. Search the records of all probate courts in all places where the individual had property. The Central Will Registry is maintained by the Department of the Attorney General for all wills probated in the province of British Columbia. Probate records before 1930 are usually at provincial archives, with microfilm copies at the appropriate court. More recent probate records are usually only at the court. The FamilySearch Library has microfilmed records from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (formerly known as the National Archives of Canada (NAC); and earlier known as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC)) and the provincial archives in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. It has vital records and probate records from British Columbia, homestead applications from Saskatchewan, land and property and probate records from Newfoundland, and probate records from Manitoba but few records from other Canadian archives. More information can be found at the Canada Archives and Libraries article. A will is a written, legal expression of a person’s wishes for himself and his property at the time of his death. It usually describes the estate and gives the names and relationships of heirs or beneficiaries. The affidavit of the witnesses includes the date or proof of death. If accepted by the court, a copy of the will was sometimes recorded in a will book or register kept by the clerk of the court. The clerk may have made errors when he transcribed the will, but the original will is often kept in the probate packet.
Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.
To Browse This Collection
| You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Canada, British Columbia Wills, 1861-1981. |
What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
- Date of death
- Names of heirs and guardians
- Relationships
- Residences
- An inventory of the estate
- Names of witnesses
Collection Content
Sample Images
Will Example #1 1918
Will Example #2 1918
Will Example #3 1918
Collection Details
Language
English
Location of Original Records
British Columbia Archives, Victoria
"Canada, British Columbia, Wills, 1861-1981." Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 3 December 2024. Citing Supreme Court. British Columbia Archives and Records Service, Victoria.
