Tennessee Probate Records

United States   Tennessee    Probate Records

Background Information
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.

Availability
Probate records of Tennessee are kept by the county clerk. In Shelby, Knox, and Davidson counties probate courts were established. You can obtain copies of the original records by contacting the clerk’s office in each county courthouse. Some county archives have the materials also. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of probate records from most counties. The probate packets that contain all documents pertaining to a probate case have the most genealogical information, but they are not always at the Family History Library. Copies of some county probate records are at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and microfilm reels of these records can be ordered.

Two sources for early Tennessee probate records are:


 * Meier, Oveda. Tennessee Ancestors: The Brave and the Dead, Probate and Death Records of Early Middle Tennessee, 1780–1805. Salt Lake City, Utah: O. Meier, 1990. (Family History Library book 976.8 P2m; film 1697372.) This source contains abstracts of probate, Bible, and court records, county histories, and military death records for Davidson and Sumner counties. It includes a surname index.


 * Sistler, Byron. Index to Tennessee Wills and Administrations, 1779–1861. Nashville, Tennessee: Byron Sistler and Associates, 1990. (Family History Library book 976.8 P22s; fiche 6101646 [set of 5.)] Records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the deceased. They show the year and county of the probate and the location of the record. A key to symbols for the counties and locations appears at the front of the book. Free Lookups Available!

Some Tennessee probate records have been published and indexed in genealogical periodicals that are in the Family History Library.

Research Guides
The following research guide, prepared by a Certified Genealogist, includes a guide for Tennessee probate records:


 * Bamman, Gale Williams. "Research in Tennessee," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2 (Jun. 1993): 120. FHL US/CAN Book 973 B2ng v. 81 (1993).

Additional probate record information and sources can be found in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

TENNESSEE - PROBATE RECORDS TENNESSEE, [COUNTY] - PROBATE RECORDS

Content
Probate records may include such documents as wills, letters of administration, guardianships, probate journals, probate packets, and adoptions.