Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Prerogative Courts
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Prerogative Courts were established in 1777, and were presided over by judges of the Court of Common Pleas. The jurisdiction of these courts was based on French civil law. Under English law, the will of a deceased person had to be admitted to probate before its provisions concerning personal estate came into effect; whereas under French law, formal action was required only if the person died intestate, in which case a Curator or Administrator was appointed to divide the estate. With the reorganization of the court system in 1792 and the introduction of English law, the Prerogative Courts were abolished. Replacing these courts in dealing with estates of the deceased were the Court of Probate and the Surrogate Courts, established in 1793.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Prerogative Courts, had jurisdiction over appointing guardians, and in appointing curators or administrators of estates where the deceased left no will or failed to appoint an executor.
Address
Quebec Act, 1774
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Related entity
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Epithet
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Banks, Margaret A. Evolution of the Ontario Courts 1788-1981 (1983)
Riddell, William. The Bar and the Courts of Upper Canada (1928)
Maintenance notes
Agency not in Canadiana Name Authorities 1996-12-24
Archivist(s):
R. Anger