Denmark Probate Records

Introduction
Probate records are court records that describe the distribution of a person's estate after death. Information in the records may include the death date, names of heirs and guardians, relationships, residences, an inventory of the estate, and names of witnesses.

These records are very helpful for research because they provide direct evidence of relationships. Often a single probate will list several individuals and their exact relationships to each other.

Probate records were not created for every person who died. The probate law of 1683 stated that probate was necessary if a person died and left minor heirs, absent heirs, or no heirs. The definition of "minor heirs" was any male under the age of 25 or any female who has never married.

Classes in the Learning Center

 * Tanner Blair Tolman, AG® presented a class in 2019 called Denmark Probate Records. It can be accessed by clicking here.

The Probate Process
The probate process began when the authorities were notified of a death. Thirty days after notification, the authorities held a registration of the estate at the home of the deceased. If the deceased was a parent, the surviving spouse and all children still living at home were to be present. All heirs not living in the parish were allowed a certain time to present themselves to the court. The time allowed was based on how far they had to travel. If a widow was pregnant when her husband died, she had the right to keep possession until after the child's birth. All guardians had to be present when the estate was divided.

The probate document was signed by all heirs or their guardians and by the probating authority.

No widower or widow could remarry before the estate had been settled in probate. However, a surviving spouse could receive permission from the court to live in an unprobated estate (uskiftet bo). Under this provision, there could be no distribution of inheritance to the heirs unless the surviving spouse remarried, died, or requested a distribution.

All legal heirs who could not manage their own affairs were to have a guardian appointed in their behalf. The law stated that the child's closest relatives were to be appointed guardian, the father's relatives first, then the mother's. If no relatives were available, then the court appointed a guardian. A widow could choose her own guardian subject to the court's approval.

Records of guardianship may be kept separately from other probate papers, or a different court may have jurisdiction over guardianship.

To view records examples of skifteprotokollerne (administrations of estates) with translations click here.

The Availability of Probate Records
Although many Danish probates have survived and they are some of the best genealogical records for Danish research, finding a probate for your person of interest can be tricky. To find a probate for your person of interest, you must first know where he lived, what class of person he was, and, if he was a tenant farmer (or cottager), to which estate he was bound.


 * Probate records for clergy and schoolteachers were kept by the provsti (deanery) until about 1803-1814. After that time their probates were recorded by the local herred (the lowest court district).


 * Probate records for farmers and cottagers who leased their land from a local estate or institution were recorded by the estate to which they were bound until 1788-1817. After this time, their probates may also be recorded in the herred or they may still be recorded by the estate as some estates kept the right to probate with special consideration until 1850.
 * Probate records for farmers and cottagers who leased their land from the crown were recorded by the local amtstue (taxation district). The closer your ancestor's farm was to Copenhagen, the more likely it is that they lived on crown owned land. The includes maps show places where the crown owned all or most of the land. If your ancestor lived in one of those areas, you should especially consider the amtstue when searching for your ancestor's probate. The only exception is Bornholm which did not use the amtstue for probates.


 * Probate records for freeholders (farmers and cottagers who owned their land outright) were recorded by the amt (county) until about 1793 when the counties were reorganized (the word about is used because some of the counties actually reorganized later. Maribo county, for example, was not formed until 1803). After this time they were recorded by the herred.


 * Each city, besides Copenhagen, has its own local probate jurisdiction called the byret.


 * Copenhagen had its own unique and complex system. Information on it is provided below at also on this page.

As probates are most likely to be used before 1814, and most Danes before that time were tenant farmers, you will probably spend most of your time searching the probate records of the various estates.

The Family History Library has an excellent collection of probate records from many areas of Denmark. These are listed in the catalog under DENMARK, COUNTY, PARISH - PROBATE RECORDS. Most records have separate name indexes in either the beginning or the end of the record. Also check the catalog under DENMARK, [COUNTY], [HERRED] - PROBATE RECORDS. This will bring up most of the possible places a probate for your ancestor might be if he or she died in that parish, but it will not bring all of them up. Some estates either do not have surviving probates or their probates were not filmed by the GSU (now FamilySearch). Additionally, FamilySearch has most of the probates recorded by the amtstue, but they will not appear in this search. To find those you will need to identify the correct amtstue (which often has the same name as the amt) and then search for records created by that amtstue specifically in either FamilySearch or Daisy.

Some wonderful indexes have been prepared to these various records by the Land Archive for Sjælland and are found both at Landsarkivet and the Family History Library on microfiche, the most extensive index being for the Forseglingsprotokoller:


 * Forseglingsprotokoller 1720-1919 (FS Library fiche 6030293-60401670).
 * Ordinære boer 1660-1771 (FS Libraryfiche 6030251-6030255).
 * Konceptskrifter [draft probates] 1660-1771 (FS Library fiche 6030238-6030250).
 * Behandlingsprotokoller 1715-1771 (FS Library fiche 6030233-6030237).
 * Samfrændskifter [relative probates] 1771-1810 (FS Library fiche 6030270-6030271).
 * Eksekutorboer [executor estate] 1790-1919 (FS Library fiche 6030256-6030269).

Copenhagen: 1670-1771
There were 13 different probate courts in Copenhagen. See the article Copenhagen Probate Jurisdictions for details. The four largest were the following:


 * 1) Magistrats skiftekommission, 1681-1781 - Magistrate's probate commission, also called Byretten {city court). These records are for the commoners of the city. Index on FS Library film 0045256 and 0044771, records on films 0044772-0045255.
 * 2) Hofretten, 1679-1771 - Castle Court. This court was for high civil officials. Index, FS Library film 0044596; probates FS Library films 0044597¬0044688.
 * 3) Borgretten, 1682-1771 - Citizen Court. This court was for the lower civil officials and employees. General index FS Library film 0044689 probate records FS Library films 0044690-0044770.
 * 4) Underadmiralitetsretten, 1670-1779 - Lower Admiralty Court. For naval non-commissioned officers (rank below captain). Records on FS Library films 0048030¬0048113.

Other probate court records for this time period that have not been filmed include the following:
 * Regimentasauditørerne (Military Court, for enlisted men in the army)
 * Søetatens General Auditør (Military Court, for naval non-commissioned officers)
 * Universitets Skiftejurisdiktion (University Court, for students, many no longer exist)
 * Den Gejstlige Skiftejurisdiktion (Ecclesiastical Court, for clergy and related personnel, most no longer exist)
 * Vajsenhusets Skiftejurisdiktion (Orphan-house Court, for personnel of the orphan house, records no longer exist)
 * Frederiks Hospitals Skiftejurisdiktion (Hospital Court, for personnel of the hospital, records no longer exist)
 * Det Asiatiske og det Vestindisk-Guineiske Kompagnis (The Asiatic and West Indies-Guineas Company, for employees in Copenhagen and the colonies)
 * Jødernes Skiftejurisdiktion (Jewish Probate Jurisdiction, many Jews listed in the Magistratens Skiftekommision listed above).

Copenhagen: 1771-1861
Most probate records in Copenhagen for this time period were handled by a single probate commission. For the period 1771-1803 they are listed under the Stadsretten (City Court; FS Library films 0045257-0046190) and from 1804-1862 under the Landsretten (Land Court; FS Library films 0046191¬0048027). These records are divided in two ways: by record type (see above under indexes) and then by classification.

Within each record type there are nine groupings as to the classification of those for whom a probate was held (the catalog does not show which groups are on which film, so you may wish to consult the book, Register of Danish estate probates:Copenhagen county, 1701-1820; FS Library book 948.911 P23c; film 0599138, item 3). I. High civil officials and commissioned officers II. Other civil officials, clerks, secretaries,book keepers, etc. III.Clergy, professors, students, and workers at schools, hospitals, and the church IV. Citizens of higher reputation and wealth V. Artist, tradesmen, etc. VI. Persons of no great means VII. Servants VIII. Enlisted men of the navy and merchant marines IX. Enlisted men of the army.

Copenhagen: 1861-1912
The nine classifications from the earlier period were regrouped into six. Class III was grouped with Class II. Classes VII-IX were combined to a new Class III. These later records were listed under the title Den kongelige Lands-over- samt Hof og Stadsret i København (The royal provincial, as well as castle and city court in Copenhagen; FS Library films 0520496¬0521527,0517662-0517794).

The Reparitionsprotokol [restitution records] from 1863¬1910 are filed separately (FS Library film 0517795¬0517840), as are a set of records called Børn og hospitalslemmer (Children and hospital inmates; FS Library film 0517868-0517897).

Wills and Indexes (Testamentprotokoller med Indexer)
These records are legal declarations of a person's desires for the disposition of his property or estate after his death. Generally only the upper and middle classes had wills. The peasant classes are most often found only in the probate records. Most original will books include indexes. Transcripts of wills were sent to the Chancery to be confirmed. After 1848, the Ministry of Justice (Justitsministeriet) kept copies of all wills.

These are useful linkage sources for the upper and middle classes. They give family relationships. They are difficult to use without the indexes; The indexes are needed to effectively locate individuals in the wills. Records are available from about 1500. There is a large collection of original will books (including indexes) in the National Archives that goes up to 1925. Many original wills are in the provincial archives, under the “amts” jurisdiction up to 1933.

Records may contain:
 * Name and age of testator
 * Residence
 * Heirs
 * Relationships
 * Description of land and property
 * Date of will
 * Names of witnesses

For more information about wills, see this article.

Guardianship Records (Overformynderiprotokoller)
Guardianship records are a good supplement to the probate records. Their use is twofold: First, they replace missing probate records. Second, they provide information concerning a minor's later destiny. Records date from 1570. At times two generations are mentioned, when both parents and grandparents passed away during the ward's minor state.

The guardianship record usually has the following information:
 * Name of the ward or minor.
 * Sometimes age or birth date and place
 * Name of guardian and residence.
 * Relationship, if any to the ward
 * Date on which the inheritance was paid to the court and the estate reference involved. (If the inheritance comes from one or several sources, each document is referred to with the amount.)
 * Date on which the inheritance is paid to the ward or minor.
 * Status of the ward at the time the inheritance is paid, indicating a place of residence if different from the original probate record
 * Expenses charged to the estate

Websites

 * 1674 - 1851 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Mary's Genealogy Treasures - Denmark
 * Faester og Skifter - Copyhold and Probates Danske Slægtsforskere Odense
 * Aurelia-Clemons Genealogy Research - Probate extractions for many areas of Denmark - complete film done, NOT just those related to me, a given surname or area. Also a guide to finding parishes within estate jurisdictions on Sjaelland.
 * Erik Brejls Hjemmeside Probate extracts for some estates, hundreds, and larger cities in Jutland, as well as probates for members of the clergy for the whole country as well as most cities. In Danish.
 * Stedregister til Nørrejyske Godsarkiver A guide to finding parishes within estate jurisdictions in Jutland (except Southern Jutland). In Danish.
 * Probate extractions from the registers of estate jurisdictions in Vendsyssel (north of Limfjorden) 1707-1851. You can view all names listed in an estate, or search for a specific name. In Danish.
 * Probate extractions from estate jurisdictions in Northern Jutland. In Danish.
 * Search engine for probates in Denmark. In Danish.
 * Death certificates in Denmark until 1940
 * Sall Data Scanned probate records. Select Skifter from the drop-down list to begin searching.
 * DIS-Arkivalielister Probate records listed by registering authority. In Danish.