User:Pipkincm/Sandbox



These are the items that I found on the wiki that either I want to edit/create or that I'll suggest someone else gives attention to. If you've been asked to collaborate, please review the topic of interest and add to the "discussion" tab.

= Probate Records =

Record Overview
Probate records are court records created after an individual's death that relate to a court's decisions regarding the distribution of his estate to his heirs or creditors and the care of his dependents. This process took place whether there was a wil (testate) or not (intestate). Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. These documents are extremely valuable to genealogists and should not be neglected. In many instances, they are the only known source of relevant information such as the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence. You may also learn about the adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Additional clues often found in probate records are an ancestor's previous residence, occupation, land ownership, household items, former spouse(s), religion, and military service.

Probate records are essential for research because they often pre-date the birth and death records kept by civil authorities.

Estates were probated for approximately 25 percent of the heads of households in the United States before 1900, whether or not the individual left a will. The percentage was higher for rural areas than for urban areas because of the greater liklihood of land ownership for farmers. Because wills often list the names of many family members, as much as half the population either left a will or was mentioned in one.

Cautions
While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, they must be used with some caution. For example,


 * Not eveyone left an estate that was probated by a court.
 * Those named in the will are not necessarily related to the testator.
 * A wife is not necessarily the mother of the children named.
 * Deceased family members or those who previously received an inheritance might not be mentioned in the records.
 * Probate records can be filed in more than one cabinet, ledger, or packet and in more than one office.
 * Transcribed records might be incomplete, misread, or incorrectly transcribed so consult the original when possible.
 * The county of residence at the time of death usually must be known in order to locate probate records.
 * Rarely do indexes of probate records include every name mentioned in the records.

Jurisdiction
Probate is a function of state governments. Therefore, the laws and resulting records vary from state to state and changed over time. Probate records for many states can be found at the local county courthouse. The particular office of jurisdiction might be that of the Probate Court, the Equity Court, the Register of Wills, the County Clerk, the Circuit Court, or others.

Suggested Text for State Topic Pages
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Record Synopsis
Probate encompasses all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, whether there is a will (testate) or not (intestate). Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. These documents are extremely valuable to genealogists and should not be neglected. In many instances, they are the only known source of relevant information such as the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence. They may also include information about adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records may not give an exact death date, but the death most often occurred within a few months of the date of probate. Wills usually mention the names of heirs and frequently specify how those heirs are related. Names of children are given, as well as married names of daughters.

Cautions While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, they must be used with some caution. For example,


 * Those named in the will are not necessarily related to the testator.
 * A wife is not necessarily the mother of the children named.
 * Deceased family members or those who previously received an inheritance might not be mentioned in the records.
 * Probate records can be filed in more than one cabinet, ledger, or packet and in more than one office.

Obtaining the Records
Repositories (local, regional, national—as applicable)

Indexes

Web Sites


 * Sampubco A gateway to Indexes of Will, Guardianships, Probate Records, and Letters Testamentary (does not apply to all states)
 * The USGenWeb Project A cooperative volunteer effort with links to resources for the state and counties. (Replace the link and link's text for each state)

Learn More

 * Anne Roach, Courthouse Records Overview (35 minute online video) FamilySearch Research Classes Online, 2010.
 * Eichholz, Alice, Editor. Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources. Third Edition. Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004. (See page ___.)
 * Rose, Christine. Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures. San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2004.

Click on the following links to wiki articles for additional information on probate records:


 * United States Probate Records
 * Probate Process
 * Probate Documents
 * Glossary

Probate
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 any dependents. You may find the names of married daughters or other relatives and their residences; or information about the adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records do not always give an exact date of death, but the death usually occurred within four months of probate. These documents are important to family history researchers, because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept.

The [court] has responsibility for the probate records of [name] County.

The following [name] County probate records have been indexed or abstracted:

Glossary of Probate Terms(draft)
(The Iowa Probate page provides wikipedia links to some of these terms)

Accounts -

Administration - Gives authority to the administrator to settle the estate.

Administrator (-trix) -

Administrator cum testamento annexo (administrator cta) -

Administrator de bonis non(administrator dbn) -

Affidavits -

Affinity -

Agnate-

Appearance docket -

Appraisal -

Attest -

Beneficiary -

Bequeath -

Bequest -

Bond -

Bondsmen -

Calendar -

Case file -

Codicil -

Committee -

Consanguinity -

Conservators -

Contest (will) -

Coverture -

Curtesy -

Decedent -

Degree of relationship -(see Greenwood p 317)

Depositions -

Devise -

Distributions - The manner in which the deceased's possessions are allocated.

Docket -

Dower rights - The rights that a non-owner spouse has in the real property.

Entail -

Escheat -

Estate -

Estate file - The file containing information about the property left by the deceased to be dispersed between the surviving heirs.

Femme sole -

Guardian -

Guardianship - The court appointment of an adult to take care of the child or the child's property.

Heir -

Holographic will -

Imprimis -

Infant -

Intestate - When an individual dies without leaving a will he or she is called "intestate."

Inventory -

Issue -

Legatee -

Legator -

Letters of Administration -

Lineal -

Locus sigilli (L.S.) -

Loose papers -

Majority -

Minor -

Next friend -

Noncupative will -

Notices -

Partition -

Per stirpes -

Petition -

Primogeniture -

Probate -

Probate case file - These are all of the various papers that have been created throughout the probate process. These are bound together and archived by case number; they are also called case files, estate files, or probate estate papers.

Probate fees -

Probate packet -

Prove -

Publication -

Receipt -

Register of wills -

Register -

Relict -

Settlements -

Sale bills -

Sine prole (s.p.) -

Successions -

Sureties -

Surrogate -

Testament -

Testamentary -

Testate -

Testator (-trix) -

Travail -

Trustee -

Videlicet (viz) -

Widow's allowance -

Widow's election -

Will -

Witness - 

= US Land and Property =


 * Explain federal land tract books and how to determine which film to search using a combination of Hone's county boundaries and the FHL catalog entry.
 * Timelines.
 * Include both "general tips" and "state tips" within each state.

= Colorado =


 * Note that the state Archives has an incomplete divorce index, probate and tax indexes for some years/counties, and State Pennitentiary Index 1871-1973.
 * Add "occupations" topic and "mining" article.

= Articles =


 * Link "legal ages" page to land, military, court, immigration, and vital records pages.
 * Mining
 * Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania