Wills after 1901 and dying without one

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:38 pm

I don't for a minute think that any of my relatives had vast sums of money or property, but I have two questions relating to wills.

First, SP only has the wills up to 1901 online. Are the others since 1901 available anywhere or just in whatever court in whatever county they might have been filed?

Second, if you died without a will in Scotland, what happened to your estate? Out of all of the hundreds of relatives I've researched, I've only found 1 will on SP. I know that some of the other relatives must have had something left when they died!

Carol

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:50 pm

Hi Carol

Are the others since 1901 available anywhere or just in whatever court in whatever county they might have been filed?

Wills after that date can be searched in the volumes at NAS - big books on shelves, ordered by year, which give an abstract and the ref for the full version of the will which can then be ordered out, often a couple of days being required for production.

Not all the testaments which were registered are on Sp's wills - there are many "deeds" written up in Commissary Court books, Sheriff Court books and the like.

Also see
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Scotla ... te_Records
and
Google books

Remember too that property in Scotland was split into two types - the moveable estate (household items, furniture, clothes etc) and heritable property (land, buildings etc). Even with no testament, there may be mention in the sasines if land changed hands.

Also, if there was some land to inherit, you may find mention in the Retours of Services of Heirs - the retours themselves may point towards a deed or other document which gives more info.

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **AnneM** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:42 pm

Hi Carole

Until 1964 the heir i.e. the oldest surviving son took the heritable property i.e. the land and anything attached to the land. If there were no surviving sons the daughters inherited between them as heirs portioners. Can't remember what happened if no surviving children but could look it up if you were interested.

The moveable estate i.e. everything else, was (and still is) divided into three parts (or two if no children) legal rights for the surviving spouse known as ius relictae or ius relicti, legal rights for the children, known as legitim and the deid's part on which the deceased could have made a will. This part was divided up according to fairly complex rules of succession but in which the children took priority and certainly the spouse was nowhere up there if even included. Again I can't remember the exact order of succession but if you want to know the details I can look it up.

The 1964 Act gave priority to the surviving spouse where inheriting the house up to a certain value and the furniture was concerned and also allowed for the surviving spouse to take quite a considerable amount of the moveable estate. Again could remind myself of the exact details if you were interested.

Let me know if you want chapter and verse and I'll check the books etc. Never trust wikipedia on legal stuff. It can be ok but can also be hit and miss.

Anne

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:28 pm

Hi Lesley and Anne and thanks!

This certainly makes for interesting reading! Mainly, what got me thinking is that my great grandfather Malcolm Munro was a master jeweler and from what we have found out, did well enough to own a house in Aberdeen. He died in 1907 and was survived by his wife and six or seven children. I know the house stayed in the family for quite a while after that and his wife Mary lived until 1916. The 1964 law probably accounts for the house staying in the family.

But then I was wondering if there would be court records of any of the lesser estates especially from earlier times for my other relatives since I can't find wills for any but one of them? Many of them would have been farmers and the city relatives all rented except for Malcolm.

It just another way to try to track down some of them. So far, none of them is showing up in the NAS catalog.

Carol

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:45 pm

Ooops! You said 1964, not 1864!

Now that makes me wonder about Malcolm's will even more since Mary ended up with the house?

Carol

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:23 pm

Unless oldest son William inherited the house and let Mother and his 3 unmarried sisters live there until Mother died. Then he probably sold the house. Hmmm.

Anyone know how you can check the property deed for previous owners?

Carol

carlineric · Post by **carlineric** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:09 pm

Those big books called Confirmation and Inventories are also available in many libraries and cover the period 1876-1936.

Eric

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:35 pm

Hi Carol

Anyone know how you can check the property deed for previous owners?

The sasines would hold this info.

Those big books called Confirmation and Inventories are also available in many libraries and cover the period 1876-1936.

The books in NAS go up to a later period than this -I think up to about the early to mid 1950s as far as I remember.

Best wishes
Lesley

speleobat2 · Post by **speleobat2** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:40 pm

The problem is the books are on your side of the Atlantic and I'm over here in Alabama!

Wish the sasines and the kirk session records were online. Probably healthier for my credit card that they aren't!

Carol

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:05 pm

Hi Carol

The problem is the books are on your side of the Atlantic and I'm over here in Alabama!

Yeah, I know... plans for the sasines, and kirk sessions, I think, to be online at some point, so your credit card may not be safe for ever!!

Best wishes
Lesley