Probate records are court records created after an individual’s death that relate to a court’s decisions regarding the distribution of the estate to the heirs or creditors and the care of any dependents. You may find the names of married daughters or other relatives and their residences; or information about the adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records do not always give an exact date of death, but the death usually occurred within four months of probate. These documents are important to family history researchers, because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept.

Probate records of Tennessee are kept by the county clerk. In Shelby, Knox, and Davidson counties probate courts were established. You can obtain copies of the original records by contacting the clerk’s office in each county courthouse. Some county archives have the materials also. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of probate records from most counties.

Probate records may include such documents as wills, letters of administration, guardianships, probate journals, probate packets, and adoptions. The probate packets that contain all documents pertaining to a probate case have the most genealogical information, but they are not always at the Family History Library. Copies of some county probate records are at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Two sources for early Tennessee probate records are: