Searching For

a

1957 Will

 Death In Grey County, Ontario

The facts as presented:

A man died in Meaford, Grey County, Ontario, on a known date in 1957.

The challenge:

Could I find out if he left a Will, and if so, obtain a copy of it?

The results:

In the late 1950s, a Will for anyone who owned property in Grey County, Ontario, would have been submitted to the Surrogate Court for Grey County along with an Application for Probate and a number of other supporting documents. An Estate File would have been created. If property was owned, but no Will was extant, an Estate File could have been created following receipt of an Application for Administration.

Surrogate Courts are no longer in existence in Counties in Ontario, the function having been assumed by the Family Division of the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario. Owen Sound is the county seat for Grey County. Estate Files created before 1971 were transferred from the Owen Sound Court to the Archives of Ontario in Toronto several years ago, but the Owen Sound Court retained the file indexes.

Unfortunately, no evidence was found in records retained at the Court in Owen Sound to indicate that an Estate File was ever created in Grey County in the man's name, 1957 through 1971.

And, recognizing that property in Ontario sometimes devolved to a spouse when there was joint ownership, a search were undertaken for an Estate File in the name of the man's wife, whose name had been independently discovered. She apparently died in Meaford, as well, in 1961. Alas, no Estate File in the wife's name appears to exist from the 1957-1971 period, either. 

- - - Project No. 230430 (Completed 2 May 2023)