Have you looked for Letters of Administration, or an Admon as it is called in England? There are different ways of dividing up an estate....but I would look for that first. I found one for 1787 signed by the widow of John Bowness in Whitehaven. I am not sure how much, percentage wise, it would be in those days.......doubt it would be the same as now. And the beauty of this one was that her two brothers also signed the paper........which gave me her maiden name and where she was from. Chris should be able to answer this, but is probably fast asleep. He helped me find this Admon for Mary Bowness. Good luck.......Heather > Does anyone know how an estate of a person who died without leaving a will > would be distributed in the mid 1700s? Assuming the person was male and had > a modest estate. > Ivan > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >