Courts and Criminal Justice – Wills and Probate Records

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Since 1852 the power to grant probate has been exercised exclusively by the Victorian Supreme Court, first by Judges of the Court, then by a Master in Equity and in more recent times the Registrar of Probates. Prior to 1852 the Resident Judge at Port Phillip of the Supreme Court of New South Wales exercised this power. The Court has maintained a register of all Grants of Representation (usually Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration) since 1841.

Probate is the process of proving to the Court the validity of a Will, which has been left by a Testor ie maker of the Will. The Grant of Probate is the official document issued to the Executor of the estate of a deceased person to pay all debts, collect any monies due and to distribute any remaining assets in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as expressed in the Will. A person who dies leaving a Will is known as a Testator and is referred as having died testate.

Letters of Administration are issued when a person dies without a valid Will. This is the alternate Grant to Granting of Probate. The Grant is normally made to next-of-kin and the estate is distributed on the basis of a formula laid down by legislation. The basic premise behind the law is to protect the interests of any surviving spouse and children. A person who dies without leaving a valid Will is said to have died intestate.

The Granting of Probate and Issuing of Letters of Administration are the two most common forms of grant. There are a number of variations to these two grants. Where an entry in the Index indicates a code other than P (Probate) or A (Letter of Administration) see Appendix 1 in the introduction of the Probate Index Victoria 1841-1992, (Macbeth Genealogical Books, Melbourne, 1992) for more information.

Digitisation

Wills and probate records are being progressively digitised, starting from the earliest nineteenth century records that PROV holds. See PROVguide 68 for information about accessing digitised Wills and Probate records.

Locating Wills and Probate Records

For records relating to probate granted from 1993-1995 do a Search Within a Series on PROV's online catalogue, entering VPRS 28 and the name of the deceased. Order records from the Search Result.

For records relating to grants of probate from 1841-1992 use the following steps:

1.	Consult the Index To Probate (VPRS 3340/P2). This microfiche set can be found in PROV Reading Rooms and does not have to be ordered. It may also be located in public libraries, genealogical societies and historical societies.
2.	The Index is organised into decades, or larger time periods, of entries. Within each time period entries are listed by the family name of the deceased person, in alphabetical groupings. It should be noted that within each alphabetical group, names are not always in strict alphabetical order.
3.	From the index, make a note of the surname and given name of the person, and the two-part will or probate number for references up to 1969. Between 1970 and 1992 the reference numbers on the Probate index will appear as one number under the heading References. Record the 6 or 7 digit number eg. 1060807 only.
4.	Go to PROV’s online catalogue at www.access.prov.vic.gov.au and log on.
5.	Go to the Ordering menu and select Wills and Probate. Enter the reference number in the format shown on the screen and click on the Search button.
7.	Order records from the Search Result.