Sweden Court Records

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There are many records that were created by the Swedish Judicial Authorities that will help you find your Swedish ancestors. These records are especially useful when the church records are insufficient.

As you search the Swedish Judicial records you will find the span of years varies record to record. This is due to laws, social development, the purpose of the record, and the preservation of the originals. Some records have different names in different parts of the country.

Other records were created in duplicate for example: the content of a Häradsrätt court proceedings (Dombok) was copied to another book (Renoverade Dombok) which was sent to the High Regional Appellate Courts. You will find the level of detail will vary depending on the version.

• To print a chart showing the judicial jurisdictional structure click on: .
  

Name of Record	Jurisdiction	Record Description
Bouppteckningar	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Probates, estate inventories after a person has died To learn more about Swedish Probate Records see: Sweden: Probate Records
Domböcker	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	The minutes, or proceedings of the criminal and civil cases handled by a court. Originally the proceedings for all cases and matters that were handled by the court were recorded into one book. Eventually separate books were used for the different types of cases.
Dödlistor	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Lists of people who died within a parish that were sent to the häradshövdingen, or tingsrätt.
Förmyndarskapsböcker	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Record of legal guardian appointments
Förmyndarskapshandlingar	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Guardianship records
Inneliggande handlingar	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Supplement or appendix to the domböcker. Can include power of attorney, mantalslängder, petitions, flyttningsattest, födelseattest, lists of deceased, lists of witnesses, and other supporting documents.
Konkursakter	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Bankruptcy records
Konkursdiarier	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Records of bankruptcy
Renoverade domböcker	Hovrätten	the duplicate copies of the domböcker that were sent in from the local courts
Saköreslängder	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	Is often found in the domböcker. It is a record of people who have been fined.
Småprotokoller or Inteckningsprotokoll	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	These records include many contractual matters such as: the transfer of real estate, loans for real estate, premarital settlements, morgongåva agreements, the appointment of guardians, and even some wills and probates.
Stämningslistor	Häradsrätten or Tingslag (in rural areas), Rådhusrätter and magistrater (in cities)	record of people who were summoned to the ting

References

• Clemmensson, Per & Andersson, Kjell. Släktforska Steg för Steg. Natur och Kultur, Falköping 2005

• Norstedt Förlagsgrupp AB. Norstedts Engelska Ord. at www.ord.se