Probate Records: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 09:57, 10 April 2023
Guide to locating probate records for ancestry, family history, and genealogy research.
Online Resources[edit | edit source]
- To access probate records for a specific county use the links to country pages below.
What are probate records?[edit | edit source]
- Probate is the legal process distributing real estate (property) and personal estate (possessions) to a person's heirs.
- Testate is the term used when a will existed. Intestate means there was no will, and the court administers and distributes the estate.
- Other documents may be found in the full probate packet.
- Probate records are available for only about 10% of families, usually landowners and the wealthy. Most farmers, merchants, and artisans did not own their own farms or shops and did not leave wills.
- Probate records often pre-date other birth and death records.
- Wills are found in the town or county where the person lived when the will was made or where they died.
- Depending on the country, probate records can be found online as digital images. For the United States, an experimental index of many county probate records is available to search.
- United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch
What can you find in probate records?[edit | edit source]
Information recorded may include:
- the death date
- names of heirs
- family members
- guardians
- relationships
- residences
- inventories of the estate (including trade and household goods)
- names of witnesses
- names of executors
How do you find Probate Records?[edit | edit source]
United States[edit | edit source]
- Probate records are kept on the county level for most of the United States and any online records will be found in the corresponding county Wiki pages.
- For general information about probate records, see United States Probate Records
- United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - try this index to probate records for the United States.
- Select a State then go to the clickable map to select the county your ancestor died in.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Canada Probate Records[edit | edit source]
- Probate records are kept on the county level for most of the United States and any online records will be found in the corresponding county Wiki pages.
- For general information about probate records, see United States Probate Records
- Select a State then go to the clickable map to select the county your ancestor died in.
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland & Labrador
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Nunavut
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
- Yukon
British Isles[edit | edit source]
Europe[edit | edit source]
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Gibraltar
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- The Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- Vatican City
Asia[edit | edit source]