ALTERNATIVE RECORDS: WILLS & PROBATE


Wills and the more extensive records of the process of distributing an ancestor's property, probate, can contain a goldmine of information on your ancestors. Where's There a Will, There's a Way by George G. Morgan is an excellent explanation of the process of wills and probate. From this, you are able to see the enormous amount if information you can find out about your ancestor.

Analyzing Wills for Useful Clues by the Board of Certification of Genealogists, and Striking Paydirt with Estate Records by George G. Morgan go into further explanation of how to dig out these clues.

Now that I have you convinced about the value of these records, how do you go about getting them? The first place to look, as always, is with older relatives. One of them might have been involved in a past probate and have a copy of the probate records.

Then, it is time to go searching. To find probate records you need to know the county in which the probate took place and the approximate death date of the deceased. There are two possible places to look. One is microfilm records at the Family History Library. You can search the Family History Library Catalog at http://www.familysearch.org/ to see if your county's probate records have been microfilmed. Go to browse categories,then follow the links to libraries to find the catalog. Do a place search for your county and state. Or, you can check at your local Family History Library.

And, you can go directly to the county. Log into UsGenWeb, go to the state, then county where your records are. The county site will give you the information you need to start your search. The information you will find at these sites varies. Some of the records you are researching may be housed in archives or historical societies. Be sure to check the volunteer list if they have one. Availability of the records also varies, from those county offices that will do a search for you, to those which you need to visit in person. DistantCousin.com, also, has extensive state links at http://distantcousin.com/States/.

Probate records take a bit more digging to find than birth, marriage and death records. You may need the help of a researcher in the area if you cannot visit the county. County historical societies can help you find one.

The copyright of the article ALTERNATIVE RECORDS: WILLS & PROBATE in Genealogy is owned by Christine Sievers. Permission to republish ALTERNATIVE RECORDS: WILLS & PROBATE in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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