Family Historian User Group

A minor point but I have always wondered why the standard probate fact sentence is "{individual} had {his/her} estate probated". Rather than "{his/her} estate was probated". It is easy to change and I have done so, but the use of "had" in the current standard implies that the deceased took action to achieve this, which is not really the case.

Like I said it is minor, but I thought I should raise it anyway.

Cheers

Ian

Just out of interest I changed mine to the following in order to get a better sentence in reports.

<para>{his/her} estate was proved at probate< on {%FACT.DATE:DAY_OF_WEEK%}>< {date}>< at the {_place}><, {note}><, {role(single)=beneficiary} was a beneficiary><, {role(plural)=beneficiary} were beneficiaries>

I have "at the" because the place will be "Probate Registry,,, Town, County, Country".

I like proved at probate. And have used it, hope it wasn't copyrighted!

All royalties gladly accepted!!

Hi David,

I have just tried rewording the probate fact sentence but the result has an additional "on" and "in" from the original sentence in it. I can make the sentence look exactly like yours but these additional words remain.

I am new to FH so would appreciate some assistance in this area.

Many thanks.

Have you got the underscore in front of place i.e. {_place}? That suppresses the word "in".

How about including

< The Estate was valued at {=GetlabelledText(%FACT.NOTE2%,"Value: ")}.>

to show the valuation.

I also chose to put my Note area in this in manner

< {=GetlabelledText(%FACT.NOTE2%,"Note: ")}.>

Not forgetting to create the Auto Create Note

[[
Value:
Note:
]]

I put the valuation into a separate fact because I'm sure that I've seen a revaluation that did not appear to generate another probate event in the Calendar. It may just be a point of preference because you could decide that an updated valuation should be regarded as another probate event.

Yes - I've just confirmed my impression - "Effects £543; Resworn £437" (truncating actual values). This is part of one entry in the England & Wales Probate Calendar.

Also, I have a chap who died in India abut 1804 - the India Office files make it clear when the probate events were but the accounts for the estate show a value fluctuating as cash came in and then was paid out.

I have changed the standard Probate fact sentence template to the following:

{=GetLabelledText(%FACT.NOTE2%,"Type:")} of {his/her} Estate <totalling {=GetLabelledText(%FACT.NOTE2%,"Amount:")}> was granted <to {=GetLabelledText(%FACT.NOTE2%,"Executor:")}> {date} <at the {_place}.> <{=GetLabelledText(%FACT.NOTE2%,"Note:")}.>

I then use the note section of the fact to populate the details.

"Type:" is either "Probate" where there is a Will, "Administration" where there isn't or "Administration with Will annexed"

"Amount:" is self explanatory

"Executor:" again self explanatory. I don't like witness roles so don't use them. Many Executor's aren't family members so I just enter their names. Where the Executor is included in the tree I have a separate Probate Executor Fact which includes the basic details and uses the same source record as the Probate fact. While additional data entry required, I prefer the way this reads in the narrative reports (which are the only reports I use).

<at the {_place}> is the name of the court/probate registry where probate/administration is granted

"Note:" is there in case I want to include any additional information

I suspect this will be frowned upon by some but I just prefer to use this method and the narrative reports read the way I prefer.

I'm moving this to the General forum as customising the Probate sentence is a standard FH feature.

P.S. You could argue that by writing a will, the deceased had taken action to have their estate probated...

ColeValleyGirl wrote: ↑

28 Mar 2021 08:16

I'm moving this to the General forum as customising the Probate sentence is a standard FH feature.

P.S. You could argue that by writing a will, the deceased had taken action to have their estate probated...

Not necessarily, as estates are probated even if there is no will. You need Letters of Administration to dispose of the deceased effects if it was over a certain value.
One can tell from probate register entry whether it was a Will or Admon. Don’t fall into the same trap as I did, thinking the entry meant there was a will to be ordered. I ordered one, paid up only to find there was no will (I didn’t get my money back!)