Linda: this is Duane. Have you told her about getting the records on Microfilm thru inter-library loan ? I have gotten Williamson Co. tax records and have ordered many MF from Lamar, Hopkins and Hunt thru my local library at no cost. She can print out what she wants or copy them if she so care too Just a thought ! I have CC her on this message. Duane Windsor Carson City, NV duanewin@gateway.net my Windsor -Hunt Web Site http://WindsorFamilyGenealogy.homestead.com/index.html ==================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: <LREMRY@aol.com> To: <TXWILLIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 1:05 PM Subject: Re: [TXWILLIA] Probate Records | In a message dated 07/20/2000 1:44:18 PM Central Daylight Time, fdg@flash.net | writes: | | << I had no idea just how expensive getting copies of probate records could | be. | Two of my cousins that died in the 1870's and 1880's had records that | contained | many, many pages totalling 183 pages at $1.00 a page. Can you give me any | advice to what to et and what NOT to get? | >> | | Of course, the best is to look at the packet yourself to decide, but we can't | all make trips to every county courthouse where we had relatives -- darn! | | **IF** you can get a clerk to go through the packet, these are the papers I | consider most important. Not all of these will be in every probate. | | ** the will | ** Petition for Probate (in more recent probates, called the Request for | Letters Testamentary) (this will usually have the date of death of deceased | and relationship of petitioner to the deceased) | ** any Guardianship papers (will list minor children) | ** Final Distribution (will list all heirs and what they received -- not | usually found in earlier probates) | ** Inventory of the Estate (if you are interested in what the person owned) | ** If a will is contested, these papers can be have lots of "goodies", but | can't remember exactly what these documents are called. | | Hope I'm not leaving out anything important -- listers, correct me if I have. | | What not to get (these can be interesting, but not of genelogical value) | ** receipts for debts paid | ** claims against the estate | ** Yearly accounts of the estate by the executor to the court. (usually found | in probates where a guardian has been appointed to administer the estate for | a minor.) | ** Petition to be excused as administrator | | And here's an iffy one -- and I'm not sure what it is called, but the | petition of a person who was a minor, but now an adult, to manage their | portion of the estate. If the person was a female, this usually occurs when | she marries, and will give you the husband's name. | | The problem, of course, is that you never know what you are missing when you | request specific documents. But, I agree, 183 page is A LOT !! | | Hope this helps some. | Linda E. | | | | | |