Upper Canada. Court of Probate

• Court of Probate

• Canada (Province). Court of Probate

In 1792, the first act of the first legislature of Upper Canada established the use of the Laws of England for matters relating to property and civil rights rather than the Laws of Canada, ie. French Law. In addition, the court system itself was being reorganized in order to be more like the English court system. During this reorganization the Prerogative Courts, which were not part of the English system, were abolished, leaving vacant the function of handling matters relating to estates of the deceased. To fill this vacancy, the Court of Probate, along with the Surrogate Courts, were established (1793). The Court of Probate was a central court, located in York (Toronto), with province-wide jurisdiction over estate matters. An appointed "Official Principal" presided over the Court.

An estate could be registered with this court or with the Surrogate Court for the district in which the estate was located. However, the Court of Probate had exclusive jurisdiction in estates where the deceased possessed goods of at least 5 pounds in two or more districts. Further jurisdiction was given to the Court of Probate to hear appeals from any orders or judgements of the Surrogate Courts. The Court of Probate was abolished in 1858, and estate matters were from then on handled by the local Surrogate Courts.

The central Court of Probate, along with the district Surrogate Courts, had jurisdiction over the granting of letters of probate (in estates with wills) and letters of administration (in estates without wills). The Court of Probate had province-wide jurisdiction in these matters, while the Surrogate Courts had jurisdiction only within their respective districts.

Additionally, the Court of Probate was responsible for hearing appeals from orders or judgements of the Surrogate Courts. In 1827, the Court of Probate, and the Surrogate Courts, were also given jurisdiction in the guardianship of infants. In 1831, jurisdiction was again extended to include authority to examine married women as to their free and voluntary execution of deeds of their property.

An Act to establish a Court of Probate in this Province and also a Surrogate Court in every District thereof, Statutes of Upper Canada 1793, Chap. 8

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Banks, Margaret A. Evolution of the Ontario Courts 1788-1981 (1983)

Zuber, The Honourable T.G. Report of the Ontario Courts Inquiry (1987)

Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12-24

Archivist(s):
R. Anger