Washington, King County Probate Records, 1854-1927

This collection is probate records from King County, Washington. The records are arranged in chronological order. This project is being published as images become available.

Browse the Wiki

Browse All 33,530 Images

Washington, King County Probate Records

Source: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Washington,_King_County_Probate_Records_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records

What is in This Collection?

This collection contains probate records from King County, Washington for the years 1854 to 1927. The records are arranged in chronological order.

Each county began keeping probate records from the time the county was created. Probate records were used to legally dispose of a person’s estate after his or her death. If the deceased had made a will, the probate process transferred the following from the deceased to an executor or executrix: the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, and transfer of property title to heirs. If there was no will, the transfer went to an administrator. A guardian or conservator was appointed if the deceased had heirs younger than 21 or if the heirs were incompetent due to disability or disease.

The death date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time of the probate proceedings are reliable, but realize that there is still a chance of misinformation. The records may omit the names of deceased family members or those who had previously received an inheritance. In some cases, the spouse mentioned in the will was not the parent of the children mentioned. Also, some wills do not name family members.

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

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Washington, King County Probate Records, 1854-1927.