It was first a court house, then the Probate Registry, and is now private offices.

His will, proved 6 February 1865 at the principal probate registry, left everything to his widow.

The general public can apply to a local probate registry for a grant themselves but most people use a probate practitioner such as a solicitor.

Attend in person at the Probate Registry or local Probate Office to swear an oath.

It was entered into probate at Somerset House, the then home of the probate registry in London, on 2 November 1925.

It created a Principal Probate Registry in London and a number of district probate registries.

Send completed IHT205 forms and the PA1 Probate Application form to your nearest Probate Registry.

Download a list of probate registries in England and Wales - HM Court Service website (Opens new window)

If it's above a hundred and twenty five thousand pounds you do have to complete that account and you won't get the grant from the probate registry until you have done that.

Send the forms to the relevant government bodies (in England and Wales, that's the Probate Registry and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)).

Before you can act as a personal representative, you usually have to apply to your local Probate Registry to be appointed personal representative by 'a grant of probate', or 'letters of administration' ('a grant of representation').

Completed in 2007, it houses Manchester's County Court and the Manchester District Registry of the High Court, the city's Family Proceedings Court, the district probate registry, and the regional and area Offices of the Court Service.

Last December, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Heseltine, revealed that the Government was considering surrendering Somerset House - largely occupied by the Inland Revenue and the Lord Chancellor's probate registry - for 'some imaginative public use that will add further lustre to London'.

Letters of Administration are granted by a Surrogate Court or probate registry to appoint appropriate people to deal with a deceased person's estate where property will pass under Intestacy Rules or where there are no executors living (and willing and able to act) having been validly appointed under the deceased's will.