Washington, Grays Harbor and King County, Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States WashingtonKing County

What Is in the Collection?
This collection consists of probate records from Grays Harbor and King counties for the years 1916 to 1930. The records were acquired from the Washington State Archives in Olympia, Washington.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Probate records may contain the following information:


 * Name of testator or deceased
 * Names of heirs such as spouse, children, and other relatives or friends
 * Name of executor, administrator, or guardian
 * Names of witnesses
 * Residence of testator
 * List of belongings and/or property
 * 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.)

Collection Content
Probate records are court documents may have included both loose papers and bound volumes. These records were generally known as an estate file, case file, or probate packets.

These files normally included the following types of documents:


 * Wills
 * Letters of administration
 * Settlement papers
 * Guardianships
 * Inventories
 * Receipts
 * Distributions
 * Name changes
 * Adoptions
 * Any other records pertaining to estates

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
 * 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.

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.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:


 * The name of the deceased.
 * The approximate date of death.
 * The approximate date of probate.
 * The place where your ancestor lived.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor. Check the indexes at the beginning or end first. Check the index for the family name (surname) and then the given name. Indexes enable you to access records quickly by searching for the names of the primary individuals. Realize that some entries in earlier years may have been missed or misspelled.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Pagethen: ⇒ Select the “Record Category” ⇒ Select the “Record Type” ⇒ Select the appropriate “Volume” ⇒ Select the appropriate “Year Range”

What Do I Do Next?
If these are indexes, the original records may contain additional information than was not indexed, or the information might have been indexed incorrectly. You may want to search for the original record at the Washington State Archives.

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * Use a Probate record to identify adoptions, guardians, heirs and relatives.
 * Use a probate record to approximate a death date, then find a Washington County Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * For earlier years, use the probate record or will to substitute for civil birth and death records.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find county or Washington Vital Records such as birth, baptism, and marriage, records.
 * Search for death or burial information in Washington Newspapers.
 * Use the information found in the record to find Washington, County Land Records (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the information found in the record to find Washington Emigration and Immigration Records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in the Washington Census. Witnesses were usually family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties and governments began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching Oregon Vital Records.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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