Ontario Government Record Series RG 22-380

Halton County Surrogate Court estate files

About these records

Title
Halton County Surrogate Court estate files
Dates of Creation
1855-1976
Physical Description

69.3 metres of textual records

Scope and Content

Series consists of estate files containing the original documentation filed with the court in proceedings leading to a grant of probate or administration. Typically, an estate file includes the original will in cases of probate, administration bonds in cases of administration, petitions for probate or administration and supporting affidavits, and the order for probate or administration.

While some inventories of estates exist for the early period, the occurrence of these in the files becomes more frequent after 1892 when the Succession Duty Act required detailed inventories and lists of heirs to be included in the files of taxable estates. When the value of taxable estates was lowered by an amendment to the act in 1907, the presence of these inventories and lists becomes even more common.

If the will or the grant of probate or administration was contested, the estate file should also include the caveat filed against the estate, relevant citations and affidavits, and the final judgment issued by the court.

Files are arranged chronologically until the end of 1927 by grant number, and thereafter by application number. Numbers are repeated annually. Files are indexed by the Registers and Grant Books until the end of 1927 and by the Non-Contentious Business/Grant Books thereafter (microfilm GS 2, Reels 55 to 58).

Administrative History or Biographical Sketch

Click on the link(s) below for more information.

Ontario. Surrogate Courts
Restrictions on Access
Researchers must use the microfilm version whenever it is available
Terms For Use and Reproduction
Copyright is primarily held by the Crown. Series also contains material owned by various other copyright owners. To find out more about the copyright status of the particular material you wish to use, consult a Reference Archivist. There are no restrictions on reproduction for research and private study. If you wish to use other than for research and private study any of this material, submit a Request for Permission to Publish, Exhibit or Broadcast Form.
Availability of Other Formats

The pre-1931 estate files are available on microfilm
Accruals

The Archives of Ontario receives annual transfers of these records.

Finding Aid
A nominal province-wide index for 1793-1858 for all Ontario estate files is available online as part of the Archives of Ontario's Interloan Microfilm Catalogue. There is also a nominal index to the 1859-1900 estate files to be found in the bookcases of the Archives of Ontario's Reading Room. A microfilm listing for the pre-1931 Halton County estate files is available online and in the User's Guide to Surrogate Courts and Surrogate Clerk Microfilm Reels in the Archives' Reading Room. A nominal index to the pre-1859 Halton estate files is available online.

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Agency or agencies that created these records

These records were created by the following Ontario government agency or agencies. Click on the agency reference code for information about this agency and other records it created.

1855-1976 :

Surrogate Courts (BA44)

How to order these records

From our Reading Rooms

For the years 1855-1943, consult RG 22-2249 (Halton County Surrogate Court registers) and RG 22-383 (Halton County Surrogate Court non-contentious business books). For those years after 1943 where the Archives does not hold an index, consult the Superior Court of Justice, 491 Steeles Avenue East, Milton, Ontario, L9T 1Y7 for a file number and year.

For pre-1859 estate files, consult the online listing of self-service microfilm in the Finding Aid section.

For 1859-1930 files, consult the self-service microfilm listing for Halton County available online in the Microfilm Interloan Catalogue or in the User's Guide to Surrogate Courts and Surrogate Clerk Microfilm Reels in the Archives' Reading Room.

The post-1930 files have not been microfilmed so the original records must be requested from offsite storage. A minimum of 1 business day is required to retrieve off-site material from storage. Please contact a Reference Archivist for more information on how to order these records.

Scroll up to "Finding Aid" for more information about any available finding aids or listings.

By Microfilm Interloan
Some of this material is available through the Archives of Ontario's Microfilm Interloan Service, which allows you to borrow microfilmed archival records through a library or other institution that participates in the interlibrary loan system.

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/microfilm/surrogate_court_halton_t.aspx#estate1