Finland Probate Records
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In other languages: Resources[edit | edit source]
Online Resources[edit | edit source]
- See county and parish level for more resources.
Background[edit | edit source]
Probate records are court records that describe the distribution of a person’s estate after his or her death. Because laws determined which heirs got what percentage of an estate, it was often not necessary to write wills; consequently, usually only the upper classes wrote them.
District probate courts (kihlakunnanoikeus/ häradsrätt): oversaw the process and kept the records. Probate records may be found in these courts. Probate records may also be found among the church records of many parishes. These records, listed as perunkirjat, are duplicates of the district court records. To find which district court a particular parish belonged to, use the map on page 34 of the following book:
- Jutikkala, Eino. Suomen historian kartasto = Atlas of Finnish History. Porvoo, Finland : WSOY, 1949. FS Catalog book 948.97 E3j(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images
Probate Process[edit | edit source]
After a person died, two appraisers usually visited the house and made an inventory and appraisal of the property. In addition, creditors listed their claims against the estate. A probate official then deducted the debts and court fees from the assets. If money was left over, it was divided up among the heirs. The widow usually received half of the estate. The remainder was divided equally among the children. Boys were allotted double the girls’ portion.
Because this process was so well defined, records were not always kept. Probate cases that were recorded usually involved minor children or children from more than one marriage. To ensure that these heirs would be justly treated, guardians were appointed to represent the underage children and any unmarried female heirs. The law was changed in the mid-1860s to allow women to represent themselves.
Many people, when they became too old to continue working, often took care of their property and estate before they died so they would have care during their older years.
Coverage and Compliance[edit | edit source]
The keeping of wills and estate papers usually date from the mid-eighteenth century. Probate proceedings were held from 1734 on.
Information Recorded in the Records[edit | edit source]
Information includes the name of the deceased person, death date, names of heirs and guardians, relationships, residences, an inventory and appraisal of the estate, a list of the deceased’s debts, and names of assessors.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
These records are very helpful for research as they establish relationships that may be hard to prove in other ways because of patronymic names.