When a person dies, a series of records are created either through the will of the deceased, if he or she wrote one, or through an estate administration of a person who died intestate (without a will.)

While we all grin when we find an ancestor who has left a will, wills might actually provide much less genealogical information than an estate administration. For that reason, I get more excited seeing multiple pages of court records for an estate administration.

Before we delve into the types of unexpected facts that might be learned from court records, let’s spend a moment discussing wills.

First of all, understand that a will can be as lengthy or as short as the testator (person making the will) desires. The shortest will on record that I’ve read about was written by a man in Europe. The entire will was THREE whole words – yes, that’s 3! All to wife. I’ve personally read a will where the man simply says his wife (unnamed) is to receive her 1/3 share with the 2/3 remainder to be equally divided among all his children (unnamed).

Most wills are more detailed, naming each heir, including married daughters, and explaining specifically how various parcels of real estate (land) and personal estate (everything else) is to be passed on to each heir.

That kind of will sounds like genealogical gold, and it may well be. So, why would I get more excited about an estate administration? Because courts ordered a much closer look at the individual wealth of a person who died without leaving a will. That closer look often (not always) produced a much more vivid picture of that man or woman’s life.

What kinds of details can be gleaned from an estate administration? Remember, not all of these details will have been recorded in every estate administration. However, I have personally found probate packets with exactly this information.

1. Exact date of death – Most estate administrations don’t include the death date. However, I have occasionally seen it recorded AND in places where death records were not kept.
2. Where the person died, if not local (e.g. living in Christian County, Kentucky at the time of death, but owned land in Surry County, North Carolina)
3. Under what circumstances the person died or cause of death (e.g. “died in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse during the late war” during the Revolutionary War
4. Occupation of the deceased – The occupation might be directly stated, e.g. John Williams, farmer, or it might be inferred from the inventory of the estate.
5. Names of the administrator/administratrix – Often this person is a member of the deceased’s FAN (friends, associates, neighbors) club
6. Inventory of all the real and personal estate owned by the deceased
7. Exact monetary value of the estate
8. List of all who purchased items in the estate sale
9. How much was paid for each item in the estate sale
10. Lists of creditors and debtors of the estate
11. List of names and ages of enslaved persons
12. List of heirs
13. Ages of minor children of the deceased
14. Where the heirs are living, if not locally
15. Name of the remarried widow and her husband when estate administrations go on for a prolonged time
16. Clues to a widow’s maiden name, based on witnesses, bondsmen and buyers at an estate sale
17. Notice of the death of an heir before an estate administration is completed AND who then inherits that person’s share of the estate
18. Names of grandchildren if a son or daughter predeceased their father or mother
19. Date the estate administration was completed and recorded in court (When minor children were involved, one administration might runs for years, until the youngest child became of age. There might be more than one administrator through those years and annual reports should be filed regarding the financial care of the estate.
20. My most favorite fact – Notice of lawsuit filed against the administrator – I love seeing this! The cause is usually that someone wasn’t happy with how the administration was being handled and the effect was many more pages of court records being created!

I think it’s easy to see why I love the records produced during an estate administration – and the longer it takes to complete the administrative process, the better it is for genealogical researchers!