Genealogy's Star: The Ins and Outs of Probate for Genealogists

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Ins and Outs of Probate for Genealogists - Part Seven Continued -- Sub-part Five

In my last post in this series, I started to examine the probate file of Caleb W. Haws filed in Utah County, Utah. This particular file had 62 pages of documents. As I noted in the previous post, Caleb died in 1871 in England but his probate was ultimately not concluded until 1904.

The Ins and Outs of Probate for Genealogists - Part Seven - An Example of a Simple Probate File

The Ins and Outs of Probate for Genealogists - Part Seven Continued -- Sub-part Two

The Ins and Outs of Probate for Genealogists - Part Seven Continued -- Sub-part Three
The Ins and Outs of Probate for Genealogists - Part Seven Continued -- Sub-part Four

This particular probate file has a twist. The Administratrix died and then both the husband's and wife's estates were combined. For whatever reasons this estate outlasted at least one of the beneficiaries. When the original probate was combined with the wife's action, the whole process started all over again. The new Administrator, the son, had to post a bond. Here are the bond documents:

Then the new Letters of Administration were filed and the proper Notices were given.

Now after so many years, the matter is almost finished. The Administrator filed a Final Account and Petition for Distribution.

This is another document that reviews the entire probate process and provides valuable information and insight into the family. Because the Administrator is the son of the original deceased, you have another descendent generation added to the family. Note that this is an intestate probate file. There was no will for either the husband or the wife. Wills may add additional information for the researcher, but as you can see, a probate file can provide valuable information either instead or or in addition to a will.

Time to wrap up this particular file. Here is the Notice to Heirs and the cover sheet.

Next is the Order setting the final hearing on the estate.

Once again, this probate was still in court 33 years after the death of Caleb W. Cox. You can see that a perfunctory examination of the court records would give you no indication that the file was still open and the case still proceeding this long after his death. This is the real difference between a seasoned researcher and a beginner. The seasoned researcher realizes that the search isn't over until its over. In this case, the research would fail to find a will and a search of the court records for a reasonable time after the death of the ancestor would not show the existence of a probate file. It would be only through persistence and patience that this file would have been found. Of course, here we have the entire file online and digitized, but if you were researching the original records in the court house, none of this would be that easy.

Here is the Decree of Distribution, the last formal step in the process. Of course, there are a lot more documents to come so I have grouped them all in this last section. The Administrator needs to be discharged and the bond exonerated.