Minnesota Will Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection covers probate court wills from 1849 through 1918.

Record History
Territorial courts were created in 1849. They handled court matters including probates. From 1858 to the present state courts replaced the territorial courts. The Probate Court has handled probates of estates, incompetency cases, guardianship, wills, and other probate matters. It also acts as the juvenile court for cases in counties with a population under 40,000. Probates are generally recorded in the county were the person resided. Estates were probated for approximately 25 percent of the heads of households in the United States before 1900, whether or not the individual left a will. Wills are more likely to be found in rural communities than in larger cities and industrial areas.

Why This Record Was Created
Probate records are used to legally dispose of a person’s estate after his or her death. The probate process transfers the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, and transfer of property title. The transfer is to an executor or executrix if the deceased had made a will, to an administrator or administratrix if the deceased had not made a will, or to a guardian or conservator if the deceased had heirs under the age of twenty-one or if heirs were incompetent due to disease or disability.

Record Reliability
The death date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time of the probate proceeding are quite reliable, though there is still a chance of misinformation. The records may omit the names of deceased family members, those who have previously received an inheritance, or the spouse mentioned in a will may not be the parent of the children mentioned. Some wills do not name family members.

Record Description
Probate records were court documents and may have involved loose papers and/or bound Volumes. These records were generally known as a case file or probate packet. These files normally included wills, settlement papers, inventories, receipts, and other records pertaining to the estates. Some probate records were recorded in books which may have carried many titles such as accounts, administrations, appraisals, minutes, petitions, guardianships, inventories, settlements, and so forth. Wills are normally transcribed into a bound volume.

Record Content
Probate records include petitions, inventories, accounts, decrees and other court documents. Genealogical facts in entries:


 * Name of testator or deceased
 * Names of heirs such as spouse, children, and other relatives or friends
 * Name of executor, administrator, or guardian
 * Names of witnesses
 * Residence of testator
 * Document and recording dates. (There are used to approximate event dates, i.e. a will was usually written near time of death.)

How to Use This Record
Use probate records to identify heirs and relatives. Probate records may contain a person’s death date, the names of family members, family relationships, and residences. Use this information to search for information in other records. You may learn about adoptions or guardianship of minor children and dependents. You may have to substitute probate records for civil birth and death records since they exist for an earlier time period.

Related Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Minnesota Probate Records

Sources of This Collection
"Minnesota Wills, 1849-1918", database, FamilySearch; from Probate Courts throughout Minnesota. Digital images of originals housed at various county courthouses in Minnesota. Recor of wills. FHL microfilm, Family History LIbrary, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Aitkin County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Anoka County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Becker County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Beltrami County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Benton County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Big Stone County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Blue Earth County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Brown County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Carlton County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Carver County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Cass County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Chippewa County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Chisago County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Clay County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Clearwater County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Cook County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Cottonwood County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Crow Wing County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Dakota County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Dodge County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Douglas County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Faribault County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Fillmore County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Freeborn County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Goodhue County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Grant County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Houston County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Hubbard County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Isanti County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Itasca County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Jackson County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Kanabec County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Kandiyohi County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Rock County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Roseau County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Scott County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Sherburne County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Sibley County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Stearns County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Steele County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Swift County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Todd County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Traverse County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Wabasha County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Waseca County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Washington County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Watonwan County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Wilkin County Probate Court (Minnesota). Record of Wills; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota.

How to Cite Your Sources
An example of citing these records is: Brown County Probate Court (Minnesota). Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota. Will. From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org), April 23, 2010. Elisha Davis, Brown, Minnesota, vol. 39C 1879-1909.

Instructions for citing this source can be found at: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections