Probate registry · England
London Probate Registry (Principal Registry of the Family Division)
You do not need to visit the London (Principal Registry) probate registry to find a will or grant of probate. The probate records for England and Wales are a single national index you can search online. A grant processed by the London (Principal Registry) registry appears there like any other, and a copy costs £16.
Grants processed by the London (Principal Registry) registry
Real records from the public probate index, covering estates in places such as Lancashire, Cambs. New grants are now processed centrally, so these are historical records, and they remain fully searchable.
Search the records
Enter a name and year of death. It does not matter which registry issued the grant, the national index covers them all.
Tips for finding a record from this area
Two things catch people out wherever the grant was processed: records are filed under the year the grant was issued, not the year of death (see the grant-year trap), and an exact-name search misses maiden names and spellings. If a search finds nothing, read why a search finds nothing.
Let us find and obtain it for you, £29
We search every name variation and index year, obtain the grant and the will whichever registry holds it, and explain it in plain English. Government fees included.
Start with a free check