District of Columbia Probate Records

Probate records prior to 1800 were kept by the appropriate courts of Virginia and Maryland. The National Archives has a series of will transcripts from 1801 to 1888. A second series of transcripts from 1801 to 1919 and the original wills from 1801 to the present are available at:

Register of Wills and Clerk of the Probate Court
U.S. Courthouse
500 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Room 5000
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: 202-879-1499
Internet: http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/superior/probate/links.jsp

The National Archives has probate administrations (1801-36 and 1854-78) and guardianship papers (1801-78). They also have an index to administration dockets, guardian dockets, and case files.

Wills after 1888, and administrations after 1878, are also at the:

U.S. District Court
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: 202-273-0555
Internet: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/

The Family History Library does not have District of Columbia probate records or microfilms. Abstracts of many early wills are in Mrs. Alexander H. Bell, Abstracts of Wills in the District of Columbia, 1776-1815, Two Volumes. (Washington, D.C.: Bell, 1946; FHL book 975.3 S2b; Volume 2 on film 207695; Volumes 1-2 on fiche 6051443-4).

Another index is Dorothy S. Provine, Index to District of Columbia Wills (1801-1920). Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992. (FHL book 975.3 P22p.)