Surrogate’s Court in the United States

New York Surrogate’s Court

Surrogate’s Court (1787+) (New York County)

“Certain New York County Surrogate’s Court records were located at the Historical Documents Collection, Queens College, CUNY, between the mid-1960s and the late ’80s, and after that at Queens Borough Public Library. Inventories and accounts for 1783-1844 were transferred to the New York City Municipal Archives in 1990. Recorded and original wills (series J1038-92 and J1043-92, below) were transferred to the State Archives in 1992.” (Probate Records, New York State Archives).

Surrogate’s Court (1787+) (statewide)

“The Surrogate’s Court in each county generally has records dating back to the establishment of the county or 1787, whichever was later. Record keeping was systematized by an 1830 statute. Surrogate’s Courts maintain records of wills, letters testamentary, letters of administration, orders and decrees, and appointments of guardians; and filed papers, including original wills, petitions for probate (gives date of death and lists next of kin), performance bonds, property inventories (seldom found after ca. 1900), administrator’s or executor’s accountings, etc. Surrogate’s Courts create comprehensive indexes to records and files.

In recent decades many courts have ceased recording documents in books and substituted microfilm recording. Some courts have disposed of old property inventories, which have no continuing legal value. Most Surrogate’s Court records are retained permanently because they may document title to real property or the legal status of individuals. Surrogate’s Court records statewide occupy over 200,000 cubic feet, with over half a million record retrievals yearly. The court is authorized to charge substantial fees for records searches conducted by court staff.” (Probate Records, New York State Archives).

See Also

• Prerogative Court
• Court of Probates
• Surrogate’s Court
• Supreme Court of Judicature
• Court of Chancery
• Secretary of State’s Office
• Department of Taxation and Finance
• Probate

Further Reading

• John Arneson, “The Legal Angle in the Surrogate’s Office,” Tree Talks, 3 (1963), 7-9, 74-76.
• Rosalie F. Bailey, Guide to Genealogical and Biographical Sources for New York City (Manhattan), 1783-1898 (New York: 1954).
• Arlene H. Eakle and L. Ray Gunn, Descriptive Inventory of the New York Collection (Finding Aids to the Microfilmed Manuscript Collection of the Genealogical Society of Utah, Number 4) (Salt Lake City: 1980).
• Estelle M. Guzik, ed., Genealogical Resources in New York, rev. ed. (New York: 2003).
• Leo Hershkowitz, ed., Wills of Early New York Jews (1704-1799) (New York: 1967).
• Herbert A. Johnson, “The Prerogative Court of New York, 1686-1776,” American Journal of Legal History, 17 (1973), 95-144.
• Roger D. Joslyn, “New York [Probate Records],” Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources, ed. Alice Eichholz, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: 1992), pp. 526-27.
• Harry Macy, Jr., “New York Probate Records before 1787,” The NYG&B Newsletter, 2:2 (Spring 1991), 11-15; “Library Resources for Research in New York Probate Records since 1787,” same, 3:1 (Spring 1992) , 3-7.
• David E. Narrett, Inheritance and Family Life in Colonial New York City (Ithaca: 1992).
• Franklin C. Setaro, “The Surrogate’s Court of New York: Its Historical Antecedents,” New York Law Forum, 2 (1956), 283-304.
• Royden W. Vosburgh, “Surrogates’ Courts and Records in the Colony and State of New York, 1664-1847,” Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association, 3 (1922), 105-116.