Oklahoma Probate Records

History

Prior to statehood, Oklahoma probate records were kept by the U.S. district courts. The probate records are now under the jurisdiction of probate or county courts. The files include wills, dockets, administrator's records, guardianship records, inventories, appraisements, sales records, minutes, and journals.

Availability

You can obtain copies of the records by contacting the clerk's office in each county. Many Indian probate records are at the National Archives—Central Plains Region. The Family History Library has copies of probate records from some counties.

For information on the names of non-natives, Native Americans, and “freedmen” (free blacks) who filed probate papers in the U.S. Federal Court, Northern District, Indian Territory, see:

Opha Jewell Wever and Rosalie Wagner, Probate Records, 1892-1908, Northern District Cherokee Nation. 2 vols. Vinita, Oklahoma: Northeast Oklahoma Genealogical Society, 1982-1983.

Web Sites

http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgs/records.htm

References

Oklahoma Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001.

NOTE: All of the information from the original research outline has been imported into the FamilySearch Wiki and is being updated as time permits.