Maryland Probate, Estate, Will, and Guardianship Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection that is scheduled to become available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search.

Collection Time Period
This collection covers county probate records of estate and guardianship files, some as early as 1796, to 1940.

Record History
Each county began keeping probate records from the time the county was created. Before 1777, estates were recorded in the Prerogative Court from 1671 to 1776, thus the records are “complete” despite courthouse fires and other losses at the county level. Since 1777, probates were recorded in the county’s Orphans’ Court. Orphans’ Court was the name of the probate court at the county level.

While some early original will books and other record volumes of estate records have been retained in the counties, most of these have been transferred to the Maryland State Archives, Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland, where they are also available on microfilm. Films of early records are found in a few of the counties.

Why This Record 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: 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 or administratrix. 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.

Record Reliability
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.

Record Description
Probate records were court documents and may have included both loose papers and bound volumes. These records were generally known as a case file or a probate packet. These files normally included wills, settlement papers, inventories, receipts, and other records pertaining to the estates. Some probate records were recorded in books that may have been labeled with such titles as accounts, administrations, appraisals, minutes, petitions, guardianships, inventories, settlements, and so forth. Wills were normally transcribed into a bound volume.

Record Content
Probate records include petitions, inventories, accounts, decrees and other court documents. Typically, they can include the following genealogical information:


 * Name of the testator or deceased
 * Names of the heirs, such as spouse, children, other relatives, and friends
 * Name of the executor, administrator, or guardian
 * Names of witnesses
 * Residence of the testator
 * Dates the documents were written and recorded (used to approximate event dates since a will was usually written near the time of death).

How to Use the Record
Use probate records to identify heirs and relatives. Probate records may contain a person’s death date, the names of family members, family relationships, and residences. Use this information to search for information in other records. You may learn about adoptions or guardianship of minor children and dependents. You may have to substitute probate records for civil birth and death records since they exist for an earlier time period.

Related Websites
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Related Wiki Articles
Maryland Maryland Probate Records Maryland County Probate Records

Sources of This Collection
• Maryland. Estate and Guardianship Records. Digital images of originals housed either at the Orphans’ Court or the Registrar of Wills in numerous Maryland counties.

How to Cite Your Sources
Instructions for citing this source can be found at: 'Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)'