You probably already have a copy of your ancestor/'s death certificate, which tells you where and how your ancestor died and who was left behind. Probate and Deceased Estate files can give you much more - what property did he/she have, who was to get what, and who was involved in the distribution process.

Probate is the process of deciding who is authorised to administer a will on behalf of the deceased. In the absence of a will letters of administration are issued for the same purpose.

A probate packet is all of the documents submitted to the Supreme Court to enable this decision to be made, and can include the original last will and testament and any codicils; asset inventories; affidavits of death, witnesses, and the executor, and sometimes the death certificate and death notices in the local newspaper.

Death duties were payable from 1880 to 1874. An inventory of all assets of the deceased was compiled for the purposes of calculating the death duty payable on the estate.

The file can contain wills; inventories of property, farm equipment or business, household furniture, and clothing; property valuations; statements from relatives, valuers and agents; birth, death and marriage certificates; and other documents - depending on the circumstances of the deceased.

The Western Sydney Records Centre at Kingswood has all existing probate packets up to about 1960; all existing deceased estate files to 1858; and all existing inquest files to 1963. Please note that not all files have survived, and file dates may be later, sometimes much later, than the date of death.

Price includes a search for Probate and Deceased Estate (also known as death duties) in NSW and copies of all files found will be supplied up to 40 pages. Additional costs will be charged if there are more pages.