DID YOU KNOW?

Before the 1882 Married Women’s Property Act, even wives’ personal possessions legally belonged to their husbands. Therefore the only women who made wills were usually widows or spinsters.

Registry was established in Belfast and the Will Calendar Database includes the six counties of Northern Ireland (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone) for 1922–1965. From September 2015 the Principal Registry in Belfast has managed all of the probate applications in Northern Ireland.