What else is there apart from wills? (a closer look at probate records)
Throughout the year, the Family Tree Academy will be there to help you grow your genealogy skills.
As ever, the aim will continue to be to help teach more about the search skills and source know-how needed to step up your family history research.
Probate records
In the February issue we took an in-depth look at using and understanding our ancestors’ wills. There’s no question that, when it comes to family history research, wills are the most important records held by the probate courts but there are a number of other types of documents to consider, which were created as part of the process of settling the estates of our deceased ancestors. This month we will look at a selection of these records to see what further evidence they may supply:
• administrations
• inventories
• litigation
• exhibits
• death duty records
Administrations
How did these records come about?
Frequently referred to by the abbreviation ‘Admons’, these are documents which record the granting of ‘letters of administration’ on the estate of someone who died intestate (i.e. without leaving a will). Essentially the courts were appointing someone to perform the same tasks that an executor would undertake if
