Nebraska, Box Butte County Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Nebraska Box Butte County

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes records from 1885-2015 in the form of digital images of probate records from the office of the Box Butte County Clerk.

Sample Images
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 dependents. This process took place whether there was a will (testate) or not (intestate). Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. In most counties in Nebraska probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. They are available at the county courthouses.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Probate records may contain the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date of death
 * Name of spouse
 * Names of living relatives
 * Place of residence
 * Adoption or guardianship information
 * Previous residence
 * Occupation
 * Land and personal property ownership
 * Religion
 * Military service

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * The age of your ancestor
 * The place where your ancestor lived
 * The names of other family members and their relationships

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "Volume Title and Year" category which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s birth record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the date of the will and the date the will was proved in court to estimate the time of your ancestor’s death.
 * Use any relationships provided in the will to reconstruct the family.
 * Heirs listed on your ancestor’s probate by a different surname may be married daughters, grandchildren, nieces or nephews. Research these individuals to determine a family connection.
 * Remember that relationships stated in your ancestor’s will are not all-inclusive. Other family members may have died before the will was written or have been born or married afterwards.
 * A will does not necessarily list all of your ancestor’s children or family members. For example, a child may have received his or her inheritance before the will was written.
 * An “administrator” is a person appointed by the court to administer property when the deceased individual did not leave a will. An “executor” is a person appointed by the deceased individual to execute the terms of the will.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Not all individuals left a will. A court may have divided the property or the individual may have had nothing to leave behind.
 * Try searching local newspapers to find probate notifications. If found, probate records should exist for your ancestor. Perhaps you are searching in the wrong time period or locality.
 * Perhaps the locality in which you are searching has different sets of probate records such as a book of wills or a book of court appointed administrators. Try searching different record sets within the same county.
 * Sometimes property was divided in land deed records. Try searching those records for evidence of a divided estate.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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