Probate Records

Guide to locating probate records for ancestry, family history, and genealogy research.

Online Resources

 * To access probate records for a specific county use the links to country pages below.

What are probate records?

 * Probate is the legal process distributing real estate (property) and personal estate (possessions) to a person's heirs.
 * Testate is the term used when a will existed. Intestate means there was no will, and the court administers and distributes the estate.
 * Other documents may be found in the full probate packet.
 * Probate records are available for only about 10% of families, usually landowners and the wealthy. Most farmers, merchants, and artisans did not own their own farms or shops and did not leave wills.
 * Probate records often pre-date other birth and death records.
 * Wills are found in the town or county where the person lived when the will was made or where they died.
 * Depending on the country, probate records can be found online as digital images. For the United States, an experimental index of many county probate records is available to search.
 * United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch

What can you find in probate records?
Information recorded may include:
 * the death date
 * names of heirs
 * family members
 * guardians
 * relationships
 * residences
 * inventories of the estate (including trade and household goods)
 * names of witnesses
 * names of executors

United States

 * Probate records are kept on the county level for most of the United States and any online records will be found in the corresponding county Wiki pages.
 * For general information about probate records, see United States Probate Records
 * United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - try this index to probate records for the United States.
 * Select a State then go to the clickable map to select the county your ancestor died in.

Canada Probate Records

 * Probate records are kept on the county or district level for most of Canada and any online records.
 * For general information about probate records, see Canada Probate Records
 * Select a province then go to the clickable map to select the county or district your ancestor died in.

British Isles

 * Probate records are kept on the county for British Isles countries.
 * Select a country then go to the clickable map to select the county your ancestor died in.

Europe
{| style="vertical-align:top;"  Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria</li> Croatia</li> Cyprus</li> Czechia</li> Denmark</li> Estonia</li> Finland</li> France</li> Georgia</li> Gibraltar</li> Germany</li> Greece</li> Hungary</li> Iceland</li> Italy</li> Kosovo</li> <li>Latvia</li> <li>Liechtenstein</li> <li>Lithuania</li> <li>Luxembourg</li> <li>Malta</li> <li>Moldova</li> <li>Monaco</li> <li>Montenegro</li> <li>The Netherlands</li> <li>North Macedonia</li> <li>Norway</li> <li>Poland</li> <li>Portugal</li> <li>Romania</li> <li>Russia</li> <li>San Marino</li> <li>Serbia</li> <li>Slovakia</li> <li>Slovenia</li> <li>Spain</li> <li>Sweden</li> <li>Switzerland</li> <li>Ukraine</li> <li>Vatican City</li> </ul>