California, County Probate Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California 

What Is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of county probate books. The records include bonds, calenders, inventories, journals, letters of administration and testamentary, minutes, orders and decrees, proceedings, registers of actions and wills, etc. Counties currently included in the collection are listed in the following table:

Probate records fall into two general categories: wills and estate papers. The records include petitions, inventories, accounts, decrees, oaths of executors, forms about guardians and other court documents. Probate records may not give an exact death date, but a death most often occurred within a few months of the date of probate.

Probate records are used to legally dispose of a person’s estate after his or her death. The probate process transfers the legal responsibility for payment of taxes, care and custody of dependent family members, liquidation of debts, and transfer of property title. The transfer is to an executor or executrix if the deceased had made a will, to an administrator. The spouse mentioned may not be the parent of the children mentioned.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The records usually include:


 * Name of testator or deceased
 * Event year
 * Event place
 * Names of heirs such as spouse, children, and other relatives or friends
 * Relationships
 * Places of residence

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 place of residence at the time of death
 * The approximate death or probate date

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page. br>
 * 1) Select County
 * 2) Select Record Type, Volume, and Year Range

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

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?

 * In case you need to find this record again later, copy the citation below in the Citing This Collection section.
 * Use a Probate record to identify adoptions, guardians, heirs and relatives.
 * Use a probate record to approximate a death date, then find a [California Death 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 California Vital Records such as birth, baptism, and marriage, records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in the United States Census, 1860 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1900 (FamilySearch Historical Records). Search the state censuses as well.
 * Use the information found in the record to find [California Land Records and Deeds].
 * Search for death or burial information in BillionGraves Index].
 * If applicable, search for immigration and naturalization records as well.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.

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 a nearby locality.
 * 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 infobox 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.

Collection Citation:

Image Citation

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