VPRS 5242 Registrar of the County Court Registers of Applications for Probate And Letters of Administration

This series documents the handling of grants of probate or letters of administration for small estates by the Registrar of a local County Court. The Intestate Widow's Relief Act 1889 established that in cases where the value of an estate did not exceed 500 an applicant for probate or administration could be assisted by the Registrar of the County Court whose office is nearest to the applicant or was located within 10 miles of the deceased's fixed place of abode. Applications could not be made in cases within 20 miles of Melbourne. In 1926, this provision was amended to also include estates with property not exceeding a total of 1,200 provided the deceased had left the estate to a widow, children or both. In these instances the role of the Registrar was to provide assistance by undertaking the creation and advertising of affidavits and other documents as required, to swear the applicant and other deponents and transferring the relevant documents, affidavits and fees to the Master in Equity in Melbourne. The register documents the following information in columns headed: - case number (as allocated by the Registrar) - name and address of the deceased - description and value of the property - names and addresses of plaintiff and practitioner, defendant or caveator - order or decree and to whom granted - date of forwarding certificate or will to the Master in Equity - names of obligors - date proceedings remitted to the Supreme Court, any appeals and remarks, and - date when inventories were field by the executor.

本系列数据集记录了地方郡法院登记官针对小额遗产办理遗嘱认证（probate）或遗产管理文书（letters of administration）授予事宜的全流程。《1889年无遗嘱遗孀救济法》（Intestate Widow's Relief Act 1889）规定，当遗产价值不超过500英镑时，遗嘱认证或遗产管理申请人可获得距离申请人最近，或位于死者固定居所10英里范围内的郡法院登记官的协助。但在墨尔本20英里范围内的案件不得提出此类申请。1926年，该条款经修订后将适用范围扩展至遗产总值不超过1200英镑、且死者将遗产遗留给遗孀、子女或二者兼具的案件。在此类情形下，登记官的职责包括：按要求制作并公示宣誓书及其他相关文件、为申请人及其他宣誓人主持宣誓，以及将相关文件、宣誓书与费用移交至墨尔本的衡平法主事官（Master in Equity）。本登记册以如下列标题记录相关信息：
- 登记官分配的案件编号
- 死者姓名与住址
- 遗产概况与估值
- 原告、执业律师、被告或遗嘱异议人（caveator）的姓名与住址
- 裁定或判决内容及授予对象
- 向衡平法主事官移交证明或遗嘱的日期
- 债务人姓名
- 案件移交至最高法院的日期、相关上诉事项及备注信息
- 遗嘱执行人提交遗产清单的日期