Missouri Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Missouri

What is in the Collection?
The collection "Missouri, Probate Records, 1750-1998" includes probate records created by county courts including wills and records of estates. Most of the records in this collection fall between 1840 and 1930, but the content and years of the court records varies by county. In a few instances, if the court heard other cases in addition to probate, such as civil disputes or even some criminal matters, the records are mixed in with the probate records.

The collection "Missouri, Andrew and Cole County Probate Records, 1826-1945" consists of images of probate estate files from Cole and Andrew County which were scanned at the Missouri State Archives in Jefferson City, Missouri.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Probate records include petitions, inventories, accounts, decrees, and other court documents. Information found in entries includes:


 * 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 (Used to approximate event dates i.e., a will was usually written near time of death.)

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate death or probate date.
 * The place of residence.
 * The names of other family members who may be named in the probate record.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the Browse through images link in the initial search page ⇒Select the appropriate "County" ⇒Select the appropriate "Volume, Title and Year" which takes you to the images.

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

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use probate records to identify heirs and relatives.
 * Use the document (such as the will) or the recording dates to approximate a death date.
 * Use the information in the probate record to substitute for civil birth and death records, since the probates exist for an earlier time period.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of birth of the deceased to locate census, church, and land records.
 * Use the occupations listed to find other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * You may be able to use the probate record to learn about
 * Adoptions or guardianship of any minor children and dependents
 * Land transactions.

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

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

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.

Collection Citation for "Missouri, Probate Records, 1750-1998":

Image Citation:

Collection Citation for "Missouri, Andrew and Cole County Probate Records, 1826-1945":

Image Citation: