Swedish Probate Inventory

The inventory of the bouppteckning was a very detailed list of all real-estate, household items, tools, and personal belongings of the deceased. Each item on the inventory was appraised and given a value. The entire inventory was totaled. The inventory (bouppteckning) was then turned in to the local district court or to the city court. The court judge in the next court session would then decide the distributioin of the estate. The document for the distribution was called the arvskifte.

The inventory was divided into subtitles. Some subtitles could be:


 * Gold (guld)
 * Silver (silver)
 * pewter (tenn)
 * Livestock (kreatur)
 * horses (hästar)
 * books (böcker)
 * clothing (klädespersedlar or kläder)
 * linen (linnetyg)
 * crops (gröda)
 * debts (skulder)
 * assets (tillgånger)
 * miscellaneous (diverse)

The inventory was very detailed. By law every item belonging to the deceased had to be listed and valued. Below is a small list of some of the items that might have been included:

Blaggarns skjortor (course fabric shirts) Bord (table) Burkar (jars) Byxor (trousers) Diverse (miscellaneous) Eldgaffel (fire fork) Eldtång (fire tong) Fil (file) gammal (old) gångkläder (everyday clothing) grå (gray) Gris (pig) Gryta (kettle) Grytkrokar (kettle hooks) Hattar (hats) Hoftyg (pliers) Hugg Yxa (chopping ax) Huggborrar (cutting instruments) Hyllor (shelves) kalk (chalice) Karmstol (armchair) Kista (chest) Knäspännen (knee buckles) Ko (cow) Koffert (trunk) Koppar (copper) Kreatur (Livestock) Kruka (dish) Lärft skjortor (linen shirts) liten (little) Ljusstake (candlestick) Mössor (stocking caps) nattkappor (night robes) Navrar (drills for wood) pannor (pans) rock (coat) silfver (Silver) Skåp (cupboard) Skjortor (shirts) Skopa (scoop) Slöjd Yxa (woodworking ax) Snöjackor (snowjackets) Soffa (sofa) Spinråck (spinning wheel) Stäfva (wooden pail) Stolar (stools) Stövlar (boots) Strumpor (stockings) Strykjärn (iron for clothing) Tacka med lamb (ewe with lamb) Tallrikar (plates) Tina (wash tub) Tröjor (sweaters) Väster (vests) Vävstolar (handloom) Wantar (mittens) Ämbren (buckets)

A vocabulary list (in Swedish only) of items that may appear in the inventory part of a Swedish bouppteckning (especially old tools and farming equipment) has been put online by Domboksforskning. To view this list click here