Finland Court Records

Court records may contain genealogical information. These records are an account of court proceedings in deciding property disputes, guardianships, thefts, drunkenness, assaults, or murders. Court records concerning probate cases were kept separately. See Finland Probate Records for more information.

Court records may give details that bring to life names on a chart and that aid in compiling a family history.

Court Records [Oikeudenpöytäkirjat/Domböcker]
Research use: Court records supplement information found in other sources. They can be used to determine relationships and residence. Records of paternity suits are of particular value in determining the father of illegitimate children, opening opportunities to research paternal lineage. The main value of other court records is in the time period before church books.

Record type: Records of court proceedings, cases, and decisions. Courts appear on various levels: city, district, appellate, and supreme court.

Time period: 1550 to present. Records of paternity suits exist from about 1850 to present.

Contents: Court records provide minutes of criminal and civil actions; also wills, marriage settlements, paternity suits, dowry contracts, contested probates, mortgage records, survey records of property, guardian accounts, applications for court positions, and so forth. These provide names of individuals, ages, occupations, dates of marriage and death, relationships (often names of close relatives of plaintiffs and defendants), residences, and other personal information.

Location: In various provincial archives.

Percentage in Family History Library: Overall about 95%, including 98% up to 1860. No records have been acquired after 1860.

Population coverage: Before 1700 - possibly 20%; 1700 to 1860 - about 35%.

Reliability: Good.

Accessibility: On microfilm at Family History Library or through correspondence.

FamilySearch Collections
To find court records in the FamilySearch Catalog, look in the Locality Search under:

FINLAND, [COUNTY] - COURT RECORDS