agriculture tips

An ancestor's will can be very useful for discovering or confirming family relationships where they are missing in other records - but even when they don't give this information, they are an essential resource if you want to know more about how your ancestor lived. However, probate in England can be a complicated affair, and you need to know your way around the range of wills indexes and registers that exist both online and in archives. Whether your ancestors were aristocracy, rich merchants, middle class tradesmen or working class labourers, it is always worth checking to see if a will was left. While it is far more likely that you will find wills within wealthy families, they do crop up within the lower classes more often than you might imagine. They can tell you a great deal about your ancestor's family, his relationship with his family, friends and community, his religion, his possessions, land and property, and, quite often, his attitude to life. If you want a closer ...

Since the BBC TV program Heir Hunters first aired in 2007, many Brits have dreamed of receiving that knock at the door. The program follows a firm of probate genealogists who search for the heirs of unclaimed estates. Imagine discovering that a distant relative has left you a small fortune. What would you spend the money on? Holidays, a new car, home improvements? There are around 20,000 unclaimed estates in the UK at present, and a further 2,000 are added each year. In 2010, around �21m was paid out by the treasury to long-lost beneficiaries. The Bona Vacantia (Vacant Goods list) gives details of deceased individuals who: Did not make a will and there have been no attempts to claim the estate Or, Have made a will but the beneficiaries cannot be traced This information is made publicly available by the Treasury solicitor; appointed by the Crown to handle the administration of unclaimed estates. Records can only be obtained from the 1 January 1997 onwards, when they were computerised. ...