Connecticut Probate Records: Difference between revisions

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*'''1609 – 1999''' [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9049 Connecticut Wills and Probate Records 1609-1999] at [http://home.ancestry.com/ Ancestry.com] — index and images $

*[http://www.archive.org/stream/publicrecordsofc001conn#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive. The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, Prior to the Union with New Haven Colony, May, 166]. Early Colonial "Wills and Inventories" can be found on pages 442-508.<br><br>

Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.”<ref>Henry Campbell Black, ''Black's Law Dictionary,'' 5th ed. (St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co., 1979), 1081, "probate."</ref> Genealogists often refer to 'Probate Records' as "All records which relate to the disposition of an estate," whether the person died leaving a will (testate) or not (intestate).<ref>Val. D. Greenwood, ''The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy,'' 3rd ed. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2000), 309.</ref>  

For further information about the probate process, types of probate records, analyzing probate records, and to access a glossary of probate terms, see [[United States Probate Records]].  

Probate records in [[Connecticut, United States Genealogy|Connecticut]] are kept by probate district courts. In many cases a probate district consisted of a larger community and several nearby smaller towns. Sometimes a probate district crosses county boundaries.  

[http://www.ctprobate.gov/Documents/Map%20of%20Probate%20Districts.pdf Map of current Probate Court Districts] (as of 5 January 2011) shows which townships are in each district.

The Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries has a page on [http://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/law/probatelaw.htm Connecticut Law about Probate Law] with links to guides, statutes, and other information about probate law in Connecticut.  

*Manwaring, Charles Williams, compiler. ''A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records.'' 3 volumes. Hartford [Connecticut]: R.S. Peck &amp; Company, 1904-1906. Contains probate record abstracts of early Connecticut Colony and Hartford Probate District. The series, which is made up of the first fifteen&nbsp;original volumes, covers the years 1635-1750 and includes wills, inventories, distributions of estates and court records. Volume 1 identifies the changes made in the different Probate Districts of Connecticut from the beginning, and includes information concerning the district boundaries. A digital version of the three volume set is available online at Internet Archive:<br>[http://archive.org/stream/digestofearlycon00manw#page/n1/mode/2up Volume 1] (1635-1700), [http://archive.org/stream/adigestearlycon01manwgoog#page/n4/mode/2up Volume 2] (1700-1729), [http://archive.org/stream/adigestearlycon01unkngoog#page/n8/mode/2up Volume 3] (1729-1750). <br>(FHL book 974.6 P2m; CD-ROM no. 2872).

*The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut (see [[Connecticut Public Records|Connecticut Public Records]]).<br>

*The [http://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/home Connecticut State Library] has numerous files of wills, bonds, letters, and other probate documents. For more information, see&nbsp;[http://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/oldhouse/probate Research Guide to Probate Records at the Connecticut State Library]. <br>

*You can obtain copies of probate records from the local probate district offices. To find the probate district for the town of interest, see the [[Connecticut Probate Records#Probate_Districts|Probate Districts]] section above.<br>

*The [[New England Historic Genealogical Society|New England Historic Genealogical Society]], located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, has early Connecticut probate records available on microfilm. To search their online library catalog, click [http://library.nehgs.org/ Here].

*The [[Family History Library|Family History Library]] located in Salt Lake City, Utah has the records listed above in the [[Connecticut Probate Records#Statewide_Record_Collections|Statewide Record Collections]]. For collection details, see the [http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/#form=catalog FamilySearch Catalog].&nbsp;Use the "Place Search" option to search for a specific Connecticut county or town. Then look for the topic labeled "Probate Records."

*The [http://www.cslib.org/ Connecticut State Library] has created a helpful online research guide for determining Connecticut probate districts and available records, called [http://www.cslib.org/probate/index.htm ''Research Guide to Connecticut Probate Districts''].

*Melnyk, Marcia D. ''Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research'', 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999. [[http://www.worldcat.org/title/genealogists-handbook-for-new-england-research/oclc/42829198&referer=brief_results Other libraries with this book]. {{FHL|957031|item|disp=FHL book974 D27g}}

*Judgepeidia has a [http://www.jud.state.ct.us/probate/budget/CourtNames.pdf list of courts] with the number of the court and the county served by each.

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