Norway Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Even before the unification of Norway (872 AD) some districts had joined together in a ''laug or lau'' (law), that later became known as a ''ting'' (court), where one could come in order to settle disagreements, bring forth complaints or to hear the law.  

'''History of the Norwegian Probate Records''' <br>Early on twelve well respected men from the community, the sogn (parish) or herred civil district (usually the same area as the parish), were appointed as members of the court. They were, along with the bailiff, responsible for all court cases, including probates. Late in the 16th century the ''sorenskriver or byskriver'' (scribe- sorenskriver in the country communities – byskriver in the cities) were assigned to prepare the documents in connection with a probate, since most of the men in the community (many of them farmers) were not able to write, at least not extensively. Often an ordinary probate would be twenty pages or more. Later the sorenskriver (scribe) took on more responsibility in the probate proceedings, and had a vote in the outcome, until the title of Sorenskriver took on the meaning of ''Judge'', and he made the final decisions.  

Most probate records start around 1687, when a law was written in order to have a more systematic, legal procedure and to better protect the rights of minor heirs. Some probate records start as a separate record earlier, but most of the probates of earlier dates were part of the general court records. Many probates were conducted privately, the heirs themselves dividing the property and paying the debts. The only probate that took place in court was when the heirs could not agree on the division, and it became a matter for the court to resolve the differences.  

'''The Probate Law'''<br>

The law of 1687 known as Christian the V’s Norwegian Law, stated that the surviving spouse should inherit 50% of the estate, and the children should divide the other 50% between them, the male child’s lot being twice that of the female child. Much later in the late 1800’s the law was changed so that a daughter would inherit the same amount as a son.  

The fee for the probate services was a small percentage of the value of the estate. The probate judge was paid well for his services. So was his scribe, the sheriff and the two appraisers that the court appointed to estimate the value of each item of the estate. These appraisers could not, according to the law, be related to the people affected by the probate. A fee also was paid for the ''stemplet papir'' (paper stamped with official mark) the probate was recorded on for the family to keep as their deed and proof of inherited property. There was also a small percentage allocated for support of the justice system (jail), and at various times for other official business. Sometimes these fees took enough out of the probate to make it a hardship for a family. And since the fees were paid “in kind” the nicest personal property often went to the officials.  

'''Probate indexes'''<br>Most of the Norwegian probates are indexed. There are different kinds of indexes. The word for index in Norwegian is “Register.” For some records the index was made at the time the record was made. These are often found in the back of the large probate book in which case it will say in the front of the book or in the back of the book, and then indexed by the first letter of a given name. Other typewritten indexes have been added later, also in strict alphabetical order by the first letter only.  

The probate records were generated on the level of the''Lagrett or Sorenskriveri'' (District court). There are county maps, outlining the probate district in the probate section of the FamilySearchWiki for Norway. The boundaries of these judicial districts have changed relatively little, because the boundaries were usually determined by natural geological features in the landscape. However, some areas have changed from one district to another, and as time passed and the population increased, some districts split in two. For example, the early judicial district called Gudbrandsdalen, later split into North Gudbrandsdalen and South Gudbrandsdalen.  

'''Prosti'''<br>An ecclesiastical probate jurisdiction, on the level of Prosi (deanery) was set up for the clergy, sextons and schoolteachers in 1661. From 1736 the School teacher and the parish clerk in a rural parish was usually the same person. This changed over time – different time, in different parishes. This separate probate record was terminated around 1809, some districts continuing the practice a little later. These probate records are available on microfilm at the Family History Library as well as online at Digital Archives.