New York, Bronx, Probate Estate Files, 1914-1931

What is in This Collection?

This collection includes county probate records for the years 1914 to 1931. It consists of indexes and images of estate files. Currently only adminstration files for 1914-1916 are available. The files may include lists of heirs, oaths of administrators, reports of witnesses, forms about guardians, etc.

The borough of the Bronx remained part of New York County until Bronx County was created in 1914. After the creation of Bronx County, the administered estate files were handled by the Surrogate's Court.

These court documents may be loose papers or bound volumes. They are usually divided into individual estate files or probate packets. Records pertaining to estates may include any of the following:

• Settlement papers
• Inventories
• Receipts
• Wills
• Accounts
• Administrations
• Appraisals
• Minutes
• Bonds
• Petitions
• Guardianships
• Inventories
• Settlements

Probate records are used to legally dispose of a person’s estate after his or her death. The probate process transfers the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, and transfer of property title to heirs from the deceased to an executor or executrix if the deceased had made a will, to an administrator or administratrix if the deceased had not made a will, or to a guardian or conservator if the deceased had heirs under the age of twenty-one or if heirs were incompetent due to disease or disability.

The death date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time of the probate proceeding are quite reliable, though there is still a chance of misinformation. The records may omit the names of deceased family members and those who have previously received an inheritance, or the spouse mentioned may not be the parent of the children mentioned.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Probate records include petitions, inventories, accounts, decrees, oaths of executors, forms about guardians and other court documents.

• Name of testator or deceased
• Names of heirs such as spouse, children, and other relatives or friends
• Names of witnesses
• Residence of testator
• Lists of belongings, property, and so forth
• Document and recording dates (Sometimes the date of death will be given. Recording dates are also used to approximate event dates, i.e. a letter of administration was usually written shortly after the time of death.)

Collection Content

Sample Images

• New York, Bronx Probate Estate Files Record Examples
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  File Jacket

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  1925 Administrator's Summary

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  1918 Receipt no. 1

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  1918 Receipt no. 2

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  1918 Invoice

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  1918 Itemized Statement