Scottish Wills and Testaments: A Plain Guide for Family Historians

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Scottish wills and testaments can show you what your ancestor owned when they died. They name the people who dealt with the estate. They can also point to relatives you have not found yet. This plain guide explains what a testament is and how to search for one.

If you are new to Scottish family history, start with our step-by-step guide to tracing your Scottish ancestry. Then come back here when you know a death date and a place.

Scottish wills and testaments: what is the difference?

In Scotland, the word “will” and the word “testament” mean two different things. A will is a paper a person writes while alive. It says who should get their belongings.

A testament is a court paper made after the death. It asks the court to confirm an executor. That is the person who winds up the estate. The testament also lists what the dead person owned.

The court then grants a document called a confirmation. It tells everyone that the executor has the right to act. When you search the records, you are mostly looking at testaments.

Two kinds of testament

The records come in two kinds. Each one tells you something different about the family.

• Testament testamentar: The person left a will. The testament copies the will, or says where it was recorded. It also has an inventory and the confirmation.
• Testament dative: The person left no will. The court named an executor instead. This was often a relative. If the person died in debt, it could be a creditor.

Both kinds include an inventory. That is a list of the moveable goods the person owned at death. Some inventories give one total. Others list every item.

The details come from the ScotlandsPeople guide to wills and testaments (checked October 2026).

Which years can you search?

The ScotlandsPeople index holds over 611,000 entries. They run from 1513 to 1925. That is a long span. It reaches back well before the church registers of most parishes.

Wills from 1925 to 1999 are not online. You can read them at the Historical Search Room of the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. Wills from 2000 onward have not moved to the National Records. Check the National Records of Scotland guide to see who holds them.

What a testament covers, and what it leaves out

This is the point that trips up most beginners. Scots law splits property into two kinds. Heritable property means land and buildings. Moveable property means money, tools, furniture, animals, crops and debts owed.

Before 1868, a will could only pass on moveable goods. Land followed other rules. An heir had to prove the right to inherit through a process called a retour, or “service of heirs”. Or the owner could use a deed called a trust disposition and settlement.

From 1868 to 1964, a will could cover both kinds. Even so, the eldest son often took the land under the law of primogeniture. So he may not appear in the will at all. That law applied to land until 1964.

So a testament may show a farmer’s cattle and carts. It may say nothing about the farm. To follow the land, you also need the Sasines registers. Those record each change of land ownership. The ScotlandsPeople guide to property ownership, renting and occupancy is a good place to start.

How the moveable goods were shared

The law divided moveable goods into up to three parts. The widow had a share, known as the widow’s part. The children had a share, known as the bairns’ part, or “legitim”. The last part was the dead person’s own, and a will could give it to anyone.

This tells you who to look for. If a man died with a widow and children, the law set aside shares for them. A will could only direct the dead person’s part.

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How to search for a Scottish testament

Go to the wills and testaments search on ScotlandsPeople. You can search by surname and first name. You can also set a range of years. The year is when the court recorded the testament, not the year of death.

You can add a description too. That might be a job, a title or a place. A search for “farmer” and “Skye” will narrow a common name fast.

You can also pick a court. The Commissary Court and the Sheriff Court recorded testaments. The index names the court for each entry. That tells you where your family lived, or at least where the estate was dealt with.

The index is short. It does not list the executor or the heirs. It does not give the date of death or the value of the estate. You must open the document to find those. That is why the images matter more than the index.

What to do with a result

Open the image and read it slowly. Early testaments are in old handwriting. ScotlandsPeople offers a free Scottish Handwriting resource. It teaches you to read manuscripts from the 16th to the 18th century.

Then write down every name. Note the executor, the witnesses and any person named as a debtor or a creditor. Each one is a clue. A neighbour who owed money may have been a cousin.

Check for a mention of a place. A parish or a farm name can lead you back to the church registers. Some testaments also name a son or a brother who lived far away. Look for a mention of a relative abroad. Many Scots left in the 1800s. A testament can be the last paper that links the two sides of a family.

Scots who died in England or abroad

Not every Scot died at home. If your ancestor died in England or overseas, the record may sit in another place. ScotlandsPeople notes that English probate copies for Scots are mainly in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court records. A result marked “non-Scottish Court” means a copy probate exists.

If you cannot find a testament, do not give up. Many people owned too little to need one. Some poor families left nothing for a court to confirm. A missing record can still tell you something about their lives.

Where wills fit with other records

A testament works best with other papers. It gives you the end of the story. Other records give you the start and the middle.

• Use the census records from 1841 to 1921 to see the household before the death.
• Use the church and civil registers for births, marriages and deaths. Our Edinburgh genealogy guide explains how to search them at the source.
• Try our guide to Scottish emigration records if a family member left the country.
• Read how to find your Scottish clan records if you want to link a surname to a clan.
• Look at our guide to Scottish ancestry DNA tests if the paper trail stops.

Many Highland families lost their homes in the Clearances. Our Highland Clearances trail shows where you can walk in their footsteps.

A simple plan for your first search

Keep it small at the start. A short plan saves time and money.

1. Find the death date and place from the civil register or a gravestone.
2. Search the index by surname, a short range of years after the death and a place.
3. Open the best match and check the job and the place against what you know.
4. Copy out every name and every sum in the inventory.
5. Search again for each person named. They may have left a testament too.

Take your time with each step. A kirkyard like the one above, near Uig on Skye, holds hundreds of names. A testament can give one of them a voice again.

Frequently asked questions

What is a testament in Scotland?

A testament is a court paper made after a death. It names an executor and lists the moveable goods of the dead person. The court then grants a confirmation.

Which years do Scottish wills and testaments cover?

The ScotlandsPeople index runs from 1513 to 1925 and holds over 611,000 entries. Wills from 1925 to 1999 can be read at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Do Scottish testaments list land and houses?

Not before 1868. Before then, a will could only pass on moveable goods. Land passed by a service of heirs or a trust deed, and the Sasines registers record the change.

What is a testament dative?

It is a testament made when a person died without a will. The court names an executor, often a family member. If the person died in debt, it may be a creditor.

Why can I not find my ancestor’s testament?

Many people owned too little to need one. The index also uses the year of recording, not the year of death. Try a wider range of years and different spellings of the surname.

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