Ontario Government Record Series RG 22-340

Hastings County Surrogate Court estate files

About these records

Title
Hastings County Surrogate Court estate files
Dates of Creation
1840-1976
Physical Description

68.1 metres of textual records

Scope and Content

Series consists of estate files containing the original documentation filed with the Surrogate Court of the Victoria District (1840-1849) and of the County of Hastings (1850-) 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 1840 to 1859 are arranged numerically (#A1-#A410). Subsequent files are organized chronologically by non-contentious business number beginning at 1 in 1859.

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

Annual accruals of these records are received by the Archives of Ontario.

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 Hastings County estate files is available online as part of the Microfilm Interloan Catalogue 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 Hastings County 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.

1840-1976 :

Surrogate Courts (BA44)

How to order these records

From our Reading Rooms

For the years 1859-1966, consult RG 22-375 (Hastings County Surrogate Court index) on GS 2, Reel 59. For those years after 1967 where the Archives does not hold an index, consult the Superior Court of Justice - Estates Division, 235 Pinnacle Street, Belleville, Ontario K8N 3A9 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 Hastings 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 the material onsite. 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_hastings_t.aspx