Nebraska, Box Butte County Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes records from 1885-2015 in the form of digital images of probate records from the office of the Box Butte County Clerk. 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 dependents. This process took place whether there was a will (testate) or not (intestate). Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. In most counties in Nebraska probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. They are available at the county courthouses.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Probate records may contain the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date of death
 * Name of spouse
 * Names of living relatives
 * Place of residence
 * Adoption or guardianship information
 * Previous residence
 * Occupation
 * Land and personal property ownership
 * Religion
 * Military service

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:


 * The name of your ancestor
 * The age of your ancestor
 * The place where your ancestor lived
 * The names of other family members and their relationships

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the "Volume Title and Year" category.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use a Probate record to identify adoptions, guardians, heirs and relatives.
 * Use a will to approximate a death date, then find a death certificate.
 * Use the information in the probate record to substitute for civil birth and death records for earlier years.
 * Use the information to locate census, christenings, marriage and land records.
 * Use the occupations to find employment or military records.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * [Nebraska Church Records|Church Records]] often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Nebraska, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Nebraska Archives and Libraries.

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.

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