This database is an index to about 3,500 testaments, or wills, created between the years 1715 and 1800 that were held at the commissariot (a secular commissary court) and are now held at the Scottish Record Office. The first five years do not contain very many wills and the wills created before 1715 were destroyed by fire a long time ago, thus they are not available for research. The record office is split into two buildings. There is the General Register House or the Old Register House located on Princes Street in Edinburgh and there is the New Register House located in Charlotte Square also in Edinburgh. For either office call 0131-566-6585. The index in this database is arranged alphabetically by surname and provides the date the will was written as well as another piece of information such as a place, occupation, or relative's name.

Information about the Scottish Record Office was taken from: Herber, Mark D. Ancestral Trails. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998, pp. 542, 547.