How do I find old Wills for my family?

Question

I am looking for old wills for the ALLEN family of Montgomery County, NC. Where would I look for them?

Answer 1

You can get them from the Clerk of the Court for Montgomery Co NC. The Clerk of the Court keeps all records for all courts in the county. They get filmed when they're older, so many may be available through a viewing center in the courthouse. The wills were filed with the Probate Court, but the Clerk of the Court is the keeper of the records. Contact them for information on how to get copies or view the films of the originals.

Answer 2

Go to the county office building and ask for will and probate records.

Answer 3

the public library or the office of public records or the city hall! or the court house

Answer 4

go the the courts ...... it should be in the public records OR...just go to the court and pay like 5 or 10 dollars

Answer 5

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cranford/...

Never overlook the usgenweb site for any county.  Like many sites, this seems to have a limited number of wills, which are user contributed.  The reason for giving you this site, is because  it MAY have other info of value.

Wills and probate files are extensive. For those that did not leave any will, the trick is realizing that there may still be a probate file. And.. there may be nothing. Land records are meaty, IF YOU have the willingness to go through them. I know one person who literally read them. Not the index.. page after page of deeds. And that often paid off.

The oddest document I found (and it probably isn't so odd) is an ancestor who died without a will.  11 years down the road, his widow went to sell the land.. but all children were "heirs at law", and required to sign off on the deed. Not what I expected, and not the date I would have figured.

Most county records have been filmed by the LDS church. They get into records that won't be online. What is needed to do, is to find the nearby family history center, and check the catalog as to what exists. A film used to be $3.00 to rent it for 2 weeks, and you can extend that.

Far cheaper than a vacation there.

Answer 6

Probate records -- maybe -- at the Courthouse