puzzle why probate 12 years after death

[lynne j]

can anyone tell me why a probate would be 12 years after death this is what i have so far
my g g grandad william taylor born 1825 essex died 1858 bishop auckland primrose hill
death certificate 16th may 1858 primrose hill william taylor age 34 accidentally run over by railway engine on the wear valley both arms broken lived 25 days so accident happened aprill 21st 
 
darlington newspaper aprill 1858 a man had his hand cut off on railway a man named william taylor who was lying drunk on the line between witton park and auckland was run over by no 12 engine and had hand cut off
taylor is a married man with a family of5 children surely this narrow escape will prove a warning not only to taylor but to all who like him indulge themselves with the bottle
the article in this paper was before he died  I am wondering if anything was in news paper after death
the next thing i found on anx
probate 19th august 1870 died 16th may 1858 william taylor late of primrose hill bishop auckland
cinder drawer deceased were granted to mary smith wife of david smith formerly taylor widow of bishop auckland the relict of the said deceased    (i have mary taylor nee topping  marriage cert she  married david smith march1861)
lynnej

[stonechat]

Could be a variety of reasons
Ihad a will of 1811 - probate granted in 1811
But it was left unadministered for 41 years and a second administration was granted in 1852

I believe of the two original administrators only one could read
The daughter could not read and admin was delayed until after her death

There can be a variety of reasons and people can have two or more administrations

[lynne j]

to be honest I wouldnt have thought he would have any money to leave
It surprised me when i found the probate under £450 00 it was a lot of money then
i have been in touch with university of durham but they do not have anything on this
where could the  money have come from
ive never been able to find the marriage of william taylor and mary topping so i was hoping maybe this would give some info unless they never married
lynnej   

[Plummiegirl]

In some instances probate can take as little as 1 month but in exceptional cases can take many years.

Prior to a change in legislation in the 19c it could go on indefinately - remember Bleak House?

Sometimes if a will was written long before the person died and never updated that can cause problems if anyone mentioned in the will has subesquently died and thier descendants need to be found.

Had this with a g/aunts will and hers had been updated just a year before she died, but when updating it she never considered that one of the 'children' mentioned was probably also dead at the time. 

So although updating a will is good, it is often a good idea to look at bequests to consider who you are leaving them to..

[mshrmh]

can anyone tell me why a probate would be 12 years after death

As you say probate, rather than administration, there was a will & for that to be put into effect probate was required. Reasons for the delay could be as simple as that the will only came to light then (perhaps left for safe-keeping with someone who wasn't aware he'd died).

Otherwise I'd guess that perhaps the will was written between the accident & his death & that perhaps his widow wasn't aware that formal probate was needed until some much later event. Perhaps he had an interest in some land/property that was being sold/transferred c1870 such that it was then realised that the legal formalities had not been gone through & were now necessary.

The under £450 figure - these values vary at different times, but seem usually to be below limits for certain taxes that would be due at the time of death.

[baggygenes]

this is a quite interesting link about probate records in family history

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/family-history

[lynne j]

 hi thank you for the link had a look and its very helpful it did say on anx principal registry
does this mean a copy  would be held at york and would it tell me a bit more than what ive read
lynnej

   

[baggygenes]

short answer I don't know.  If theres a copy of the will on file it would give you more info in regards how much he actually had - or possibly how (sale of property etc).  I would have thought that if there was a reason why there was a 12 year gap there might be notes on the probate but obviously you won't know until you see paperwork.  If Anx have it down as a York record then I would assume that is who holds it - unless you live locally I'd personally I'd be more inclined to take the postal search option and give them everything you know ... possibly even ask why they think they'd be a 12 year gap - but obviously you'll have to pay

[Pejic]

I have an ancestor where the will was not activated until many years after his death, when his wife died - prsumably not found until then, or not considered important.