Lincolnshire Probate Records

England Lincolnshire

For an explanation of probate records in England, click here.

Getting Started
Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. The Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process until to 1858. Beginning in 1858, authority over probate matters was taken from ecclesiastical courts and put under the civil authority of the Principal Probate Registry. The Post-1857 Probate Records section below contains links to additional information about the records of this court.

To look for a probate record before 1858:


 * 1) Discover when and where your ancestor died. If you don’t know, use the approximate date and place where they lived.
 * 2) Go to Court Jurisdictions section below.
 * 3) Click a letter or span of letters for your place name. This opens a jurisdictions table.
 * 4) Follow the instructions on the jurisdictions table page.

Court Jurisdictions
Before 1858, every town and parish in Lincolnshire was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary courts.

To see a list of Lincolnshire places and the pre-1858 courts that had probate jurisdiction over them, and instructions of what to do next, click on a link:

A  B   C-D   E-F  G   H   I-K   L-M    N-P    Q-R   Sa-So   Sp-Sw   T-Z.

Probate Indexes Online
Before looking for a will, you should search an index.

http://microsites.lincolnshire.gov.uk/archives/section.asp?docId=53085&amp;amp;catId=13105&amp;amp;pageTitle=Lincoln+Consistory+Court+Wills+Index The index of LCC Wills 1701-1800

This index of wills proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Lincoln 1701-1800 are several pdf's; they are in alphabetical order from 1701 - 1750 and them alphabetical order from 1751 - 1800. Please bear in mind that the quality of the index and information you can retrieve depends on the quality of the original typescript and this is variable. It will serve as a guide pending the launching of improved catalogue searching on this website.

Estate Duty Records
Starting in 1796, a tax or death duty was payable on estates over a certain value. Estate duty abstracts may add considerable information not found elsewhere. Between 1813-1858 estate duty indexes may help locate a will. For more information, go to Estate Duty Records.

Post-1857 Probate Records
Beginning in 1858, the government took over the settlement of estates and all wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system. The system consists of 11 district registry offices and 18 sub-district registries, located throughout England and Wales, and the principal registry office located in London. The records are available through the office of Her Majesty's Courts Service. To learn more, go to the HMCS website.

A country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post-1857 wills. The indexes for 1858-1957 and the records for the Principal Registry and the District Registries for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.