North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970

What is in This Collection?

The collection consists of probate matters recorded at county courthouses in North Carolina for the years 1735 to 1970. However, most of the records in this collection are from 1800-1930. Probate records are court documents and may have involved loose papers or bound volumes. These files included all documents related to estate settlement including:

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

To Browse This Collection

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

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.)

Most probate records in North Carolina were created on a county level though many were later sent to the North Carolina State Archives. For the colonial period, dozens of North Carolina wills were proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in London, England. The contents of probate records vary greatly depending on the prevailing law and the personality of the record keeper.

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. The transfer is 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.

Collection Content

Sample Images

• North Carolina Wills
• 

  1834 Will page 1

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  1835 Will page 2