New Zealand probate records and wills

[SuzanneD]

FamilySearch has been digitising probate indexes and actual wills from Archives New Zealand: the project is not yet complete but I was able to find index entries and images of a significant proportion of my NZ ancestors' and relatives' wills. Associated papers in the probate files, such as affidavits from family members, have also been scanned. These also sometimes have relevant genealogical information so for the entries with images attached, it is worth paging forward from the will to see if there are other useful papers.

The index database spans 1848 to 1994, but there is a 50-year cut-off for the images of wills and so those only go up to 1963. The Christchurch and Timaru registries seem well represented, which is good news given the restricted hours for consulting the originals in the Christchurch office.

 

[Tim]

Hi Suzanne,

The link you have entered doesn't work, can you please check and correct?

Thanks.

Tim

 

[SuzanneD]

Sorry - fixed!

 

[Emmyw]

Hi Suzanne
Not sure whether to thank you for that or not - I am going to be spending hours over those records now.
Regards
Emmy

 

[SuzanneD]

Yes I know that feeling. Luckily many of my families have fairly uncommon surnames so there are fewer false hits to go through.

 

[KimL]

Hi Suzanne, I love the link and the possibilities but I found a probate which says it has seven images but when I link to the image I only get the first page and not the ability to move to another page: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KDT9-8RC
Could this just be an error on this entry as it seems to work fine on other entries?
Thanks for the link this is why I love Lost Cousins. Cheers Kim

 

[Alexander Bisset]

I can confirm the behaviour there seems no easy way to navigate and no simple url changes get to the other images either. I suspect you need to raise an issue with them through the feedback button at the bottom of the page.

 

[Bee]

When I searched and came up with a will this was at the top and I could click the arrow after '722' and get the following pages.

New Zealand, Probate Records, 1848-1991 Napier Supreme Court Probates 1911-1948 rec 4340, 4316-4365 Image of 722

Maybe it depends on the area.

 

[KimL]

I have had luck with other pages but this must be just an error. Thanks.

 

[Emmyw]

I have just discovered that NZ Archives has started putting some later wills and probate records on their website (later than the ones on familysearch) - Not sure of the details, or how many, but where they are available you can either read them, or download them - loving it..

Regards
Emmy

https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/