Norway Probate Records: Difference between revisions

Early on 12 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, and they were, along with the bailiff, responsible for all cases, including probates.  Late in the 16th century the ''sorenskriver'' or ''byskriver ''(scribe - sorenskriver in the rural communities - byskriver in the cities) were assigned to prepare the documents in connection with the probates, since most of the men in the community (many of them farmes) were not able to write, at least not extensively.  Often an ordinary probate would be 20 pages or more.  Later the sorenskriver took on more responsibility in the probate proceedings.  He 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 conductred privately, the heirs themselves dividing the property and paying the debts.  The only probates that took place in court were when the heirs could not agree on the division, and it became a matter for the court to resolve the differences.

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