Canada, British Columbia Estate Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada British Columbia

Why Should I Look at these Records?
Probate and estate files are especially useful when trying to prove a relationship between two or more individuals. To ensure that the property went to the correct person, relationships (such as 'son,' 'aunt,' or 'sister-in-law') were often named in detail. This is ideal for a genealogist who needs proof to move on to the next generation in a family or needs help fleshing out a complete family group.

In cases where birth, marriage, and death records began too late, probate and estate records may be completely necessary to prove family connections.

What is in this Collection?
These records include probate estate files for the Judicial Districts of British Columbia. The Records were created by either the County Court or the Supreme Court. The years vary by court and locality, and indexes exist for the following districts, Vancouver and Victoria. The Victoria index is found in this record collection: British Columbia Wills, 1861-1939; Index, 1861-1981.

In British Columbia, estates were probated for perhaps 10 percent of the heads of household before 1900.

The clerk of the court retained all original documents about a case in a probate packet or probate estate papers (also known as estate packets, case files, or estate files). The estate files contain the original wills, petitions, letters, bonds, inventories, settlements, and other records. Some or all of these documents may also have been copied in separate books. Not every locality covers the entire date range or contains every kind of probate record mentioned above.

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 article Canada Probate Records contains more information about this collection.

Sample Images
Will records may include the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Death place
 * Names of children, spouse and other family members
 * Names of witnesses
 * Date of will (may include death date)

Letters of administration records may include the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date of death and place of death
 * Name of spouse and children

How do I Search the Collection?
View Images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page. Once you've reached the browse page, follow these instructions to get to the images: ⇒Select the appropriate “Judicial District/Locality” ⇒Select the appropriate “Court” ⇒Select the appropriate “Record Type, Date Range, File or Volume Numbers” which will take you to the images.

Important: Please note that there are indexes available in this collection of images that were not indexed through FamilySearch. These indexes were handwritten and included in the images found in the individual folders. Find your ancestor's name and look for the page, entry, certificate number or book number next to their name. This will help you find the records you are looking for in this collection.

Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

I Found Who I was Looking for, Now What?

 * If you haven't already done so, see if you can find your ancestor's death registration for the possibility of more information on his or her death.
 * Use the name of the spouse and your ancestor's name to search for a marriage record.
 * Search for the names of the family members found in the record in the British Columbia Birth Registrations collection to find their birth dates.

While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, use them with some caution because:


 * They may remove the names of deceased family members or those who previously received an inheritance.
 * The spouse mentioned in a will may not be the parent of the children mentioned.
 * Relationships noted in the records may not have the same meaning today. (Pay special attention to in-law relationships.)

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, Now What?

 * If you haven't already done so, see if you can find your ancestor's death registration for the possibility of information on his or her death. This may also give a place of death, which could indicate property held in that place for further searching in the estate files.
 * Look where your ancestor was living at the time of the last census. That will give you a clue to finding the county of the death place where your ancestor was probated.
 * Search the Canadian Mortality Schedules to find a death place for your ancestor.
 * If your ancestor was an immigrant, look in the British Columbia, Naturalization Records, 1859-1926 collection. This could give you a clue as to where your ancestor was residing at the time of naturalization, which could possibly help narrow down a locality that your ancestor lived and died in.
 * 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.
 * While it's worth looking for, keep in mind that not every individual had a documented probate. It's possible that there may not be a probate record available for the ancestor at all. In this case, you may need to look at other record types to prove relationships.
 * Don't forget that the use of nicknames was common, as well as alternate spellings of surnames. Make sure you are looking at all records using possible nicknames or spelling variations.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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