Missouri Probate Records

United States    Probate Records   Missouri Probate

Probate records are court records created after an individual’s death that relate to a court’s decisions regarding the distribution of the estate to the heirs or creditors and the care of any dependents. These documents are important to family history researchers because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept. While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, they have limitations.

Jurisdictions

Probate matters in Missouri have usually been recorded by the clerks of the probate courts, but in some counties the common pleas or circuit courts handled this function. The records include wills, administrator bonds, and estate inventories. They are frequently indexed. You can obtain copies by contacting the probate judge in each county.

A statewide index to Missouri probate records has not been compiled.

Copies of many of the records are available at the Family History Library. The library's records generally date from the creation of the county to about 1925. For example, the library has 71 films for Jackson County that include:

• Wills and other records (1828-1917)
• Bonds (1868-1923)
• Letters (1876-1955)
• Guardians' records (1871-1898)
• Inventories (1881-1915)
• Real estate sales (1890-1918)

For many counties, abstracts of the earliest wills have been published, and copies are available at major archives and the Family History Library.

Web Sites

http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/records/protoc.htm

St. Louis, Missouri Judicial Records:  http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/mojudicial/#searchDB

St. Louis, Missouri Genealogy Resources http://www.germanroots.com/stlouis.html