Illinois Probate Records

Online Resources

 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1819 - 1988 at FamilySearch.org — images

Record Synopsis
Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.” Various records may be found in probate files. 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.

Explore more about the probate process, limitations of probate records, analyzing probate records, a glossary of probate terms, wills, and United States Probate Records.

History
Variations existed within counties as probate jurisdictions and county boundaries changed over the years.

Territorial (1787 - 1818) County Probate Judge and Clerk (1787 - 1795) Orphans Court composed of Justices of Quarter Sessions (1795 - 1805) Court of Common Pleas (1805 - 1816) Clerk of County Court (1816 - 1819)

State (1818 - present) Clerk of County Court (1816 - 1819) Clerk of County's Commissioners' Court (1819 - 1821) County Probate Court (1821 - 1848) County Probate Court (for counties with 50,000+ population) (1870 - 1964) County Court (1848 - 1964) Circuit Court (1964 - present)

Searching Probate Records
It is usually best to start a probate search at the county level. Links to county pages appear below. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche may be available for viewing at FamilySearch Centers. Also find Illinois Probate resources available at many libraries (WorldCat). Explore how to search WorldCat and the FamilySearch Catalog.

Websites

 * The Illinois Regional Archives Depositories includes some online Illinois probate indexes.
 * Family Search Historical records collection includes free online images of will books, administrations, journals, inventories, guardian's records, and order books from probate courts in Illinois. The content and time period will vary by county. A wiki article describing this collection is found at Illinois Probate Books - FamilySearch Historical Records.
 * DeathIndexes.com provides links to several Illinois probate records.
 * USGenWeb, Illinois is a cooperative volunteer effort with links to resources in the state and counties.
 * Ancestry databases related to Illinois Tax Criminal, Land, and Wills ($)
 * FindLaw has information on Illinois Probate Courts.

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Illinois Probate Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

Published Materials

 * Eichholz, Alice, Editor. Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources. Third Edition. Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004, 185.
 * Greenwood, Val D. Third edition. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 2000, 346. Many libraries (WorldCat);
 * Pease, Theodore Calvin. "The County Archives of the State of Illinois." Clarence Walworth Alvord, editor. Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library. Volume XII. Springfield, Ill.: Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library, 1915. Chap. IV, pp. lxxviii-lxxxi. View a free digital version online at Google Books.

State Statutes
Understanding the Illinois probate laws and how they changed over time can help us learn how the estate was administered, taxed, and distributed and might help to solve difficult genealogical problems.

Online digital versions of state statutes can often be found by conducting a search engine search for the term, "Illinois statutes." The following are examples of books related to Illinois probate laws:


 * Pease, Theodore Calvin. The Laws of the Northwest Territory, 1788-1800. Springfield, Illinois: Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library, [1925]. Many libraries (WorldCat);
 * Brayman, Mason. Revised Statutes of the State of Illinois....Springfield: Walters &amp; Weber, 1845. View at Google Books using the search term "probate" for references specific to probate. Available at many libraries (WorldCat).
 * Hurd, Harvey Bostwick, editor. Revised Statutes of the State of Illinois. 1877....Chicago: Chicago Legal News Co., 1877. View at Google Books using the search term "probate" for references specific to probate. This and other years by this author available at many libraries (WorldCat).
 * Jones, William C. A Practical Treatise upon the Jurisdiction of...Probate Courts of Illinois....Chicago: T.H. Flood &amp; Co., 1892. View at Internet Archive.
 * North, Levi. A Treatise on the Practice in Probate Courts...in the State of Illinois....Chicago: Callaghan &amp; Co., 1875. View at Internet Archive. Available at many libraries (WorldCat).
 * Simons, Franklin Pierce. A Treatise on the Probate Practice and Law of Estates in the State of Illinois....Chicago: Callaghan &amp; Co., 1907. View at Internet Archive. Available at many libraries (WorldCat).
 * Starr, Merritt and Russell H. Curtis, editors. Annotated Statutes of the State of Illinois in Force January 1, 1885 ....Volume I. Chicago: Callaghan &amp; Co., 1885. View at Google Books using the search term "probate" for references specific to probate. Available at many libraries (WorldCat).

Current laws are offered online by the Illinois General Assembly as Illinois Compiled Statutes.

Additional information about Illinois state statutes relating to probate matters can be found at law libraries.

Learn More

 * Anne Roach, Courthouse Records Overview (35 minute online video) FamilySearch Research Classes Online, 2010.
 * Rose, Christine. Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures. San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2004. Of particular interest are the chapters, "Estates Galore," "Estate Documents," "Milking Every Clue from Estates," and "Strategies that Work." Many libraries (WorldCat);
 * Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, editors. The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Third edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, Inc., 2006. Of particular interest is the section, "Probate," pages 268 - 277. Many libraries (WorldCat);