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 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. 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 likelihood 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. Some colonial records were kept by the town or the colony. See the wiki pages of each state for more information on pre-statehood, historical, and current probate records and jurisdictions.

Historical Background
United States probate law derived from English common law and from Spanish community property law, depending on the state. Under English common law, a married woman could only make a will of real property with her husband's consent or with an antenuptial contract. Under Spanish community property law, property acquired while married belongs equally to husband and wife. Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington are community property states. Probate matters for the original English colonies were handled under English law. Some important sources for these colonial records are:

Proved in London

American wills and administrations proved in London have been abstracted and published multiple times. Each edition is listed here, as some are available online, while others are not. In addition, publishers included more detailed abstracts in some editions than others. The 2007 edition includes a place-name index that enables users to pluck out references to specific colonies or states:


 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. English Estates of American Colonists: American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1610-1699. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. English Estates of American Colonists: American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1700-1799. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. Digital version of 1991 reprint available at Ancestry ($).
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. English Estates of American Colonists: American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1800-1858. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. American Wills &amp; Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1610-1857. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1989. ; digital version at Ancestry ($). Lists over 4,800 wills with name, residence, relatives, and date.
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. American Wills Proved in London, 1611-1775. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. ; digital version at Ancestry ($). Abstracts over 6,800 wills showing name, residence, occupation, date, and relatives.
 * Coldham, Peter Wilson. North American Wills Registered in London, 1611-1857. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007.

If you find a will abstact that interests you in Coldham's books, it is now possible to view digital images of the original Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills online at two United Kingdom pay-per-view websites:


 * Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills (1384-1858), courtesy: The National Archives, UK.
 * PCC Wills Index and Images (1384-1858), courtesy: The Genealogist. (in progress)

Proved in Edinburgh

Other American wills were proved in Edinburgh, Scotland, see:


 * Dobson, David. Scottish-American Wills, 1650-1900. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1991. Over 2,000 citations including name, occupation, residence, and date.

Most of these references were taken from the Commissariat Court of Edinburgh (now the Sheriff Court of Edinburgh) and the Index to Personal Estates of Defuncts, 1846-1866. If you find a will abstact that interests you in Dobson's book, it is now possible to view digital images of the original records online at a United Kingdom pay-per-view website:


 * Wills &amp; Testaments (1513-1901), courtesy: Scotlands People

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 - 

= U.S. Census Records =

Suggested State Census "Overview" Text
Censuses were often taken by individual states in the years between the federal censuses, such as 1875 or 1892. State census records may have columns that were different or more unusual than those found on federal censuses, such as religion or a married woman’s maiden name. The responses and years of coverage may give additional information on the family.

= 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