Bavaria (Bayern) Probate Records



Probate records (Testamente) are the probate court records that are formed after a person's' death. These records relate to a Probate Court's rulings regarding the distribution of the dead person's estate and property to his heirs, creditors or his dependents.

Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the state of residence [or real property] of the deceased at time of death in the absence of a legal will.


 * See Wikipedia for additional information on Probate.
 * Probate Records page for Germany Genealogy could also be helpful. Although there isn't much on this page specifically for Bavaria, it could provide an idea on where to look for probate records for the area of your ancestors.
 * This source is not as easy to find for genealogy purposes as church or basic civil records, but if you do want to pursue this option it can be done by contacting the revelent state archive. This link will take you to the FamilySearch page with a list of Bavaria Archives and Libraries