In a message dated 5/11/01 1:58:31 PM, Hdanw@aol.com writes: << When I asked an an attorney-genealogist why a person I was researching had probates in two states, she replied that if a person owns property in two places (jurisdictions), then a probate is held in each jurisdiction. Makes sense to me. E.W.Wallace always learning new tricks in genealogy (we learn by researching, not always by internetting) >> Hello all, Another reason to check out neighboring counties when looking for records on your families, is that citizens were allowed to file or probate in the county seat which was most convenient for them, especially in the early years prior to the establishment of new counties divided from the earlier larger counties. Of course this practice became less and less allowable as a sufficent number of counties provided for better access. For marriage licenses, you would have to check in the county where the bride resided, as she was not to be overly "put out" by having to go into a county which was not her home county to obtain a marriage contract, so even if her groom and she would be living within his home county, hers was the one to check for, for a marriage bond, especially in Virginia. North Carolina was a little more flexible in some instances, especially if the bride was just over the line from her groom's home county. John Fox Winston Salem, NC