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18th century will case

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  • 18th century will case

    i have some papers from the national archives concerning the estate of my ancestor's first husband, and was wondering what the outcome might have been? i only have two parts of the case (the catalogue only shows these two): her husband's brother in law's vs hers.

    my ancestor followed her brother to sumatra in 1771, within six mths she had married her first husband (she was his third). he died in 1772, and by 1776, when the case statements were written, she had remarried to her second husband (my ancestor). the family returned to england between 1780-1797.

    her first husband's brother in law made a case that the last will was valid- written just after the second wife died, leaving everything to his kids, and freeing all his servants. her case rested on the fact that she had married him (therefore was entitled to something), and that she had a letter dated prior to marriage stating he would provide for her. but he never wrote a new will it seems (and her new husband's signature was on the old will as a wittness).

    so basically the brother in law was stating the will he had was the valid one, and should be upheld. she stated the estate should be intestate, as he never wrote a new will reflecting their marriage.

    so what would the outcome likely be? would the estate have been intestate and everyone gets a share? or would the last will be valid? from memory when her second husband wrote his will in 1778 and died in 1780, the matter wasn't resolved as he left the bulk of the estate to their daughter, assuming his wife would get her inheritance from her first husband.

  • #2
    It all sounds very interesting but I have no idea about the laws from then,

    Do different countries have different intestate laws?

    Will be interested to hear what other people say about it. Sorry I can't help
    Lin

    Searching Lowe, Everitt, Hurt and Dunns in Nottingham

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    • #3
      Just seen this, so sorry for the late reply.

      It is my understanding that all Wills made before a marriage are automatically revoked by the marriage, UNLESS the Will was specifically made in anticipation of the marriage (and the actual wording of it would make this clear) so it would seem the brother-in-law's will was no longer valid, and the estate should therefore be treated as intestate. The fact that he wrote her a letter saying he would provide for her is irrelevant.

      I'm not sure when this was made law though. It's possible it was a 19th century change.

      Did this go to probate?

      Edit to add: English law. Scotland is probably different.
      Vicky

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      • #4
        I have no idea what happened in the end. It was still unresolved when her second husband died in 1780.

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        • #5
          Would death duty records answer any questions about the distribution?

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          • #6
            Too early for death duties, they start 1796. I suppose there may be more files at the national archives yet to be indexed. Or maybe lost?

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            • #7
              In hindsight i think these were part of the asia collection, so likely to be held in the british india company files?

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              • #8
                annswabey and AntonyM might be able to answer the question. I thought I had retrieved a DDR record from latter 1700s, but, hmm, my memory was not accurate!

                I don't know where you found the record that you do have, but while I was skimming the FS's catalog, I noticed this:


                You never know, maybe FHL will open up again some day...

                Not probate information, but I also found this, tho it might not seem pertinent to Sumatra, it does list that some of the information is for it

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