Expanded Explanation

If you’ve come across probate records while researching family history, there’s a good chance you’ve also encountered wills.

At its simplest, a will is a written document where someone outlines how they want their estate handled after death.

A will may include instructions about:

• who should inherit property or money,
• who should carry out the person’s wishes,
• guardianship of children,
• or how possessions should be divided among family members.

The person writing the will is known as the testator, while the person responsible for carrying out the instructions is usually called the executor.

Not everyone left a will. Some people died intestate, meaning they died without one, and their estate was handled according to local laws instead.

But when wills do survive, they can become some of the most personal and revealing records found in genealogy research.

Genealogy Context

Wills are incredibly useful in family history because they often identify relationships directly.

A will might name:

• children,
• spouses,
• siblings,
• grandchildren,
• or extended relatives living in other towns, counties, provinces, or countries.

That can be especially important when researching periods before modern census records or civil registration systems existed.

Wills can also help solve genealogy mysteries. Sometimes they explain why a family moved, reveal second marriages, identify daughters whose surnames changed after marriage, or connect relatives who otherwise seem unrelated in surviving records.

For researchers working in the UK, wills may appear in church court records before the mid-1800s, while later wills are often easier to locate through centralized probate systems.

In Canada, wills are commonly found through provincial probate courts, surrogate courts, or regional archives depending on the province and time period.

Examples

A few common examples of information found in wills include:

• a father leaving farmland to his children in rural Ontario,
• a miner in Cornwall listing tools, furniture, and family members in his estate,
• or a grandmother in Yorkshire naming married daughters whose surnames had changed.

Some wills are very brief and practical. Others contain surprisingly emotional language, personal requests, or references to family relationships and tensions.

Occasionally, wills even reveal stories that never appear anywhere else in the historical record.

Why It Matters in Family History

Wills often bring a more human dimension to genealogy research because they reflect decisions people made about their family, property, and legacy.

Unlike many government records, wills were usually written intentionally and personally. They sometimes capture someone’s priorities, concerns, relationships, or personality in ways other records simply don’t.

They can also reveal:

• family structure,
• economic circumstances,
• property ownership,
• migration patterns,
• and connections between generations.

And honestly, there’s something strangely powerful about reading words an ancestor personally approved or signed decades or centuries ago. It can feel less like looking at a historical record and more like briefly hearing their voice again.