The following is a copy of an e-mail from Fawne Devai to the UOVGEN mailing list:
(reproduced here with her permission)
I have noticed a number of questions recently regarding Wills & probate
records for Ontario. The Archives of Ontario is the repository for those
will which have been probated. Information about Wills is available on the
Archives of Ontario website - specifically:

Under the section "Conducting Research at the Archives of Ontario"

Information Handouts is a link to
the information handouts which are found in the main reading room.
Researchers would be well advised to read those handouts which explain the
availability and use of wills and probate records:

#15 How to Find a Will (HTML version):
Find a Will

Before 1859, estates were dispersed either by the provincial Court of
Probate or the local Surrogate Courts. The Court of Probate (Series RG
22-155) handled estates with property in two or more Districts valued over
£5. The Surrogate Courts handled estates with property within one District.
With the abolition of the Court of Probate in 1858, the Surrogate Courts
assumed complete responsibility for estate actions.

Many years ago, the Archives created two surname Indexes of Estate Files *
before 1859 * --  these indexes are available online at:

COURT OF PROBATE - Inventory 22, Appendix A1 (formerly Appendix F):
Surnames A to G
Surnames H to N
Surnames O to Z


SURROGATE COURT INDEX - Inventory 22, Appendix A25 (formerly Appendix H): 


Researchers would be well advised to carefully read the online information
for wills

For those researching in 
York County, things are somewhat more complex but
are carefully explained in the York County Surrogate Court Records section
of the inter-loan catalogue

Generation Press has been working for a number of years to provide indexes
to probate records by county for the period 1858-1900. These indexes are
available for searching in the main reading room of the Archives and are
available in many libraries. They can be purchased from Generation Press
(Elizabeth Hancocks) at: 
172 King Henry's Blvd., Agincourt, Ontario M1T 2V6 
(they do not have a website that I have ever found)

I believe they are also available from Global Genealogy

I am not sure if they are sold by the Ontario Genealogical Society though.
There are indexes for the following counties that I am aware of:
Brant, Carleton, Dufferin, Elgin, Essex, Frontenac, Haldimand, Halton
Hastings, Kent, Lambton, Lanark, Leeds & Grenville, Lennox & Addington
Lincoln,  Norfolk, Northumberland & Durham, Ontario, Peel, Peterborough
Prescott & Russell, Prince Edward, Renfrew, Simcoe, Stormont, Dundas &
Glengarry
Victoria, Waterloo, Welland
 
Microfilm of probate records (wills) can be borrowed on inter library loan
from the Archives for those records that have been microfilmed. Please read
the online information carefully...unfortunately, not all wills have been
probated and not all probated records have been microfilmed....

As the Archives' information handout clearly explains, Not all wills are
probated:
"If the deceased's estate consisted ONLY of real estate (e.g. farmers), the
original Will may have been deposited in the local Land Registry Office to
transfer the land to the heirs. Some Land Registry Offices hold over 60% of
all surviving Wills. Because they were never probated, these Wills are not
indexed or registered in the court records."

To find the address for the Land Registry Office in the county where your
research falls, check the website for the 
Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD)

The Land Registry Offices fall under the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial
Relations. They have a website  which will also take you to a list of
Land Registry Offices with an explanation of the service each provides.

I hope these links and online information will assist those in search of
Ontario probate records & wills in general.

... Fawne Stratford-Devai


 June 12, 2005:
Ontario Death Certificates (Adobe Acrobat file)

E-Mail Fawne Devai and Al Lewis
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