New Hampshire Probate Records: Difference between revisions

''[[United States|United States ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[New Hampshire|New Hampshire ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[New Hampshire Probate Records|Probate Records]]''  

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> Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. These documents are extremely valuable to genealogists and should not be neglected. In many instances, they are the only known source of relevant information such as the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence. They may also include information about adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. For further information about&nbsp;the probate process,&nbsp;types of probate records,&nbsp;analyzing probate records, and to access a glossary of probate terms, see [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/United_States_Probate_Records United States Probate Records].  

Probate records from 1636–1771, originally filed in Portsmouth and Exeter, are now in the collection at the New Hampshire Records Management and Archives.&nbsp;Probate records are now found in the county courthouse of each county. These probate files include letters, affidavits, bills, receipts, original wills, and inventories. Records of towns along the Massachusetts border may be found in either [[Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] or [[New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]. This is because New Hampshire was under Massachusetts from 1641 to 1679. The governor of Massachusetts was also the governor of New Hampshire to 1741. The boundaries with Massachusetts were not finally settled until 1739-41.  

New Hampshire Judicial Branch, [http://www.courts.state.nh.us/probate/index.htm Circuit Court Probate Division] site has information and forms pertaining to probate. It also has a list of the [http://www.courts.state.nh.us/courtlocations/index.htm#probate probate divisions], one for each county.<br>  

Rockingham County probate records, 1771-1918 (On films to 1969 at Family History Library.)  

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