Family Tutor: Letters of Administration

1.	Name of state and county
2.	Name of administrator
3.	Name of the deceased
4.	Place and date of death
5.	Names of widow
6.	Names and ages of minor heirs
7.	Residence of heirs
8.	Order to make inventory
9.	Signature of administrator
10.	Date of document

Letters of Administration, 1867,
Miami County, Kansas

Letters of Administration

When someone dies without leaving a written will, they have died "intestate". By law, someone entitled to inherit must advise the court of the death and the need to settle the estate of the deceased.

The person who qualifies by law to settle the estate is called an administrator and is issued Letters of Administration by the court after posting the required bond to ensure the honest handling of the estate's assets.

Letters of Administration can give a wealth of information about the deceased and the family. In the example, the person appointed to administer the estate is William Karr, the father of the deceased (although it is not stated in the document, his relationship is given in another record). He is named, along with the widow and three minor heirs. It also gives the name of the deceased, plus his residence and death date. Many similar records do not give such detailed information.

Letters of administration were created by local civil courts, sometimes called the county court, probate court, orphan's court, circuit court, or chancery court.

Most probate records remain in the custody of the civil court in which they were created and can be obtained form the court clerk.

Genealogists have abstracted and indexed probate records for many locations. Copies of those publications and thousands of microfilmed probate minute and order books can be found at the LDS Family History Library, its local Family History Centers, and in the genealogy collections of private, local, state, and university libraries throughout the country.

Always check probate records to see if an ancestor, or anyone who might have been related to the ancestor, left property that had to be disposed of by law!