For some strange reason most of our early Virginia ancestors put off the task
of writing a will until just before their death. You will find many wills
signed a month or two before they were submitted for probate. There are
exceptions but many that I have seen are about three months from date of
signature until date of filing for probate. Often the widow remarried and it
was her new husband who handled the affairs. There are exceptions of course
but many took this route. A will was the only way a man could include all of
his children in the division of land. Intestacy gave the land to the eldest
son. It is safe to assume the death occurred before the presentation of the
will for probate at which time the witnesses had to attest to the validity of
the will in court.

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