Genealogy: The Benefits Of Probate Records
Probate records, which include wills, inventories, letters of administration, and guardianships, are essential tools of genealogical research. They are especially valuable because the focus of probate is the family; beneficiaries named in a will are usually a spouse, children, grandchildren, in-laws, or siblings. Nowhere else, except perhaps in vital records and deeds, is proof of family relationship established with equal precision.
In addition to genealogical details, probate documents tell much about the living arrangements, wealth, family attitudes, religious beliefs, education, literacy, and civic mindedness of our ancestors. More than any other type of historical document (except, perhaps, a diary or autobiography) probate records are a "window" through which we can catch an intimate glimpse of our ancestors' family relationships and lifestyles.
Probate records divide into two basic categories: those of people who died testate - that is, leaving wills - and those of people who died intestate, leaving no written instructions as to how their property should be distributed at death.
There are three basic types of wills. The first, known as the "attested" will, is prepared for the testator. In Colonial days this was often done by local magistrates, and in recent times by lawyers. The second, called a "holographic" will, is actually written by the testator himself. Finally there is the "nuncupative" will, deathbed wishes communicated to and recorded by a witness present at the bedside. All three types must be signed by witnesses. Of the three types, the attested will is the most common, although in the Colonial and Early National periods you can find some holographic wills and a few nuncupative ones as well.
What if a person died "intestate" without leaving a will naming heirs? Who inherited the property, what are intestacy records, and how are such records useful to genealogists? Intestacy law in early America was based largely on English precedent. But although primogeniture prevailed by law in English intestacy cases, that practice did not always prevail in America. In the New England colonies (except for a period in Rhode Island), as well as in Pennsylvania and Delaware, "partible" division of real estate among all children, with the eldest son receiving a "double portion," was the law in intestacy cases. In many of the other colonies, especially in the South, although primogeniture was the law, partible inheritance again was often the custom.
When a person died intestate, his property was administered by the court according to state or colonial statutes and customs of the time. Once the court (usually the county court) was informed that an individual of sufficient property had died intestate, it appointed an administrator, someone who would oversee the preparation of an estate "inventory" of real and personal property and work with the court in determining beneficiaries.
