BellaOnline Forums Family Genealogy Do you have a great family discovery?

My latest find was on FamilySearch.org. I did a search for birth, death, marriage records and found my ancestor's probate record. He died intestate. I now have the actual date of death. The record indicates that his wife was to receive a year's allowance from the estate for her support. I now need to see if I can locate a deed devising the property. I would have thought that the probate record would have included a distribution of the property but in this case it did not.

I don't know exactly what happens with intestacy probates, Angie. The procedure probably differs between common-law jurisdictions and statute-law ones; the US states don't all have the same, I think. Also, there's a difference in the ways land (real estate) and other assets are treated. I hope you will post here, on your findings. Very interesting!

Gordon, generally in cases where there is no will here in Virginia (long time ago), an administrator is appointed. The inventory and appraisal are done, and then there is a sale or division of property. The wife gets a dower share or sometimes a child's share. The paperwork in the probate book include guardianship when necessary and lists and then receipts. In North Carolina it is similar. I find no deed for the sale of property. Isaac and Mary sold some property just before he died. So confusing.

Do you have a legal description of the property - e.g. its physical location? If so, there may be a record of its previous ownership, and there may be people in the neighbourhood today who might be able to help you. I say that without much hope, but in tracing ancestors I've sometimes found it helpful to "come through the window", as it were. [That's an old Stan Freberg reference, Angie. Ask your father about it! We still use it in our house.]

Dad's been gone a long time.... I have come in through the window at times - The FAN (family and neighbors) club of our ancestors can be helpful in opening the windows. It would be fun to find out where the properties of my ancestors were located - I need to do a title search. Wills back in the day where properties were transferred were not always recorded as deeds. The FAN club comes into play here too.