Who did your ancestor mention in his will? What did he own and who did he leave it to? Who was involved in the probate process? The probate packet for your ancestor may contain the will, death certificate, asset inventory, affidavits from relatives and others, and other documents.

Probate is the process of deciding who is authorised to administer a will on behalf of the deceased. In the absence of a will letters of administration are issued for the same purpose.

A probate packet is all of the documents submitted to the Supreme Court to enable this decision to be made, and can include the original last will and testament and any codicils; asset inventories; affidavits of death, witnesses, and the executor, and sometimes the death certificate and death notices from the local newspaper. Not everyone who died has a probate file, but they are worth searching out as the file can be an unparalleled source of information about the financial affairs of the deceased.

I will search the probate indexes at State Records NSW, retrieve the probate packet and get copies made.

Price is reduced if you can supply the SRNSW series and reference number.

Copies will be supplied up to 20 pages; if the packet has more pages you will be notified of the extra charge before the copies are posted.

If there no probate file for your ancestor then a partial refund will be given.