RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Canada => Topic started by: HmmS336 on Thursday 22 August 19 17:42 BST (UK)
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Is it possible to buy a will from the 1960's? I have a relative that died in Vancouver and Ancestry has thrown up an internment of ashes in the UK, that included the same Street as the death cert.
I assume this request would be from a will as she had no family there and lived alone - a friend signed the death cert.
Thank you
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You may find it online at FamilySearch. (free to view and download, but you must register first).
Start here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2001882
Click on Browse through 127,172 images
Then search the INDEX to get the sets of numbers at the end of the name you are interested in, then go look for those numbers under WILLS.
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Thank you I am giving that a try.
It seems a laborious process - though perhaps I am doing it wrong!
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If you aren't having any luck finding her, and you want to keep her name off a public forum, you can pm her name (as it appears on her death reg), and I will look for you. :)
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After 654 clicks (!!!!) I got to the appropriate place - unfortunately her name is not listed.
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Thanks bbart for your help and showing me this. Just a shame there is no will listed.
Perhaps she left an expression of wishes or similar.
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If I remember correctly, alphabetization is based only on the first couple letters, so just want to make sure you looked far enough!
If you want me to double check, feel free to send me her name.
Perhaps she did not have a will, but someone in the UK arranged for her to be sent home.
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Thank you - a message is on its way.
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You are right, she is not listed.
Now I see why you had to click so many times... normally you can enter page numbers to jump ahead, but it, for some reason, is only moving one page at a time. Consider that your daily workout!
So it would seem that her friend on the death registration must have contacted someone in the UK to send her home. You could try asking the crematorium, but I am not sure if they would have retained those records of transport.
Their address is the same as that on her death record, but I can't seem to find an email address for them:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/funeral-homes/vancouver-bc/mount-pleasant-universal-funeral-home/3606
306 East 11Th Ave
Vancouver, BC V5T2C6
Sorry we came up short on this!
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Thank you bbart for taking the trouble of looking! I will try the crematorium but as you say it is doubtful that records will have been kept.
Thanks so much
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You are more than welcome.
At least it didn't cost anything to find out!
It is possible that her friend got hold of family in the UK, not just for her remains, but possibly to see if they wanted her old family photos, etc, and just bundled her and family memorabilia up and mailed her home.
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You may want to contact the BC Archives to see how to go about accessing a will from the 1960s.
https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/bc-archives/about-us/about-bc-archives?_ga=2.38556580.683165245.1566734046-1713173977.1566734046
Susan
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I am in the process of obtaining a copy of a 1974 will in BC. My understanding is that when there was a will AND when there was enough of an estate that the will had to go to probate, that only then will there be a record of the will and what happened to the estate. After some years the court records get sent to the Royal British Columbia Museum & Archives. I do not know how long the courts hold them before doing that but apparently it is a number of years and may vary from court to court. In the case that I am working on, the name does not appear in that index list in Family Search but when I asked at the Archives someone looked up the name somewhere and said that there was a record of an estate for that person in the time period I described. The archivist then had the file retrieved from storage and a couple of days later called me. Having the file in hand, she was able to confirm the death date, which I already knew, so that we were sure it was the right person. I then had the choice of having a copy mailed to me or sent to me electronically. There was a charge. It varies according to the size of the file but mine was about $33. I expect a copy of the will to arrive in the mail on September 4th!
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I don't know if this helps any but as I trawl through Canadian newspapers I come across display adverts placed by attorneys asking if anybody has a claim against the estate to kindly get in touch.
I've never had occasion to contact any of them and simply offer it as a possible option.
DTD
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In theory, it might be possible to get a copy of a 1960's will from British Columbia but not always. I recently got a copy of a 1973 will probated in 1974. If the estate was large enough that probate was required then there will be a court record which will include the will. Court records from that far back will be in the keeping of the Royal British Columbia Museum and Archives in Victoria. If there was no probate procedure then there may be no copy of the will on file. It will help to have the exact name, exact death date and the place where the deceased lived.