Washington, King County Probate Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States WashingtonKing County

What Is in the 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 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.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Most probate records include the following information:


 * Name of the deceased
 * Death date
 * Death place
 * Residence
 * Heirs (these are usually family members)
 * Executor
 * Witnesses
 * Court where the estate was probated
 * Court location
 * Court date of probate

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 death or probate date.
 * The place of residence.
 * The name of family members who may be named in the probate records.

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.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Pagethen: ⇒ Select the "County" ⇒ Select the "Volume Title and Year"

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 [Url link (space) Custodian Name].

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 Vital 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 Wiki link to Vital Records such as birth, baptism, and marriage, records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find Washington Land or Property.
 * Use the information found in the record to find washington Emigration and Immigration.
 * 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?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Washington, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Washington Archives and Libraries.

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.

Collection Citation:

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