Kentucky Probate Records

United States   Kentucky    Probate Records

Record Synopsis
Probate is the “court procedure by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid” and encompasses “all matters and proceedings pertaining to the administration of estates, guardianships, etc.” Various types of records are created throughout the probate process. These may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. These documents are extremely valuable to genealogists and should not be neglected. In many instances, they are the only known source of relevant information such as the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their places of residence. They may also include information about adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. For further information about the probate process, types of probate records, analyzing probate records, and to access a glossary of probate terms, see United States Probate Records.

Local
Probate records of Kentucky are kept by the county clerk.

Regional
Copies of probate records are also available at the Department of Libraries and Archives and the Kentucky Historical Society.

National
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, which contain all documents pertaining to a probate case, have the most genealogical information, but few are available at the Family History Library.

Statewide Record Collections

 * Index to Kentucky Wills to 1851, the Testators. Salt Lake City, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1979. This index shows the testator’s name, county, year of the will, volume, and page number.
 * King, Junie Estelle Stewart. Abstract[s] of Early Kentucky Wills and Inventories. 1933; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 1961. ; item 5;  Includes  surname index. Digital version at Ancestry ($).