Court Records

1. Court Records http://ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/4106.asp • Naturalization & Probate • Adoption • Bankruptcy • Civil proceedings • Criminal proceedings • Divorce • Guardianships • Mortgage • Property disputes

2. Adoption • Most cases the records are sealed. • Only the adoptee can open the records when they reach the legal age. Rare cases when others have opened the records • Rare cases could be a need to learn genetic medical conditions • Have to secure a court order to open the case • Before 20th century adoptions were handled quietly, and within the families, outside of legal system. Some parish priests could have made notes in their records.

3. Bankruptcy • Economic hardships have marked this in America’s history • They are common in some time periods • Look at the rate of bankruptcies today in Utah • Bankruptcies are filed in federal courts, intended to protect the individual from the creditors

4. Civil Proceedings • Property disputes • Small claims • Slander • False accusations • These records are a peek into the daily lives of our ancestors. They show the mood of the community and the people

5. Criminal Proceedings • These are referred to as case files • Can yield interesting information • Might learn things we really did not want to know • Robert • Jens • Hatfield's and the Mc Cloy's (family feuds)

6. Divorce • Less common in the 1900’s • Filed at the local level of court system • Sometimes the divorce was initiated, but never completed

7. Guardianships • May seem unusual, but they are more common than you might think • A widow could not take care of her children • Children made award of the state and placed in an orphanage or court appointed guardian • Sometimes the man would arrange guardianship before his death in a will • Documentation of guardianship is sometimes placed in what is called a Orphan’s Court

8. Mortgage • These are filed in local courts • How many times have you financed a home. Look at the paper trail you are leaving for your descendants • There is a web site for unclaimed property

9. Property Disputes • Communities have been without a police force, so the courts assumed the role of keeping the peace • Handled in local courts

10. Court Locations • 3 levels of courts • Local court or county court (valualble information at this level. • Determine where they are located, town, county, remember boundaries have changed over time • State or supreme court • Unlikely to find much at this level regarding genealogical data • Federal • Can be an excellent resource. Bankruptcy information • There are 89 federal district courts, plus the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court

11. Using Court Records • Most court records are indexed • Many cases there are 2 separate indexes • Plaintiffs • Defendants • Learn how the information is organized and accessed • Hundreds of rolls have been microfilmed and are at the Family History Library • Some counties are making the records available online through local or county Web sites

12. Pitfalls & Limitations • Indexes are not complete records • Indexes are secondary sources • Not all court records have been fully indexed • Original source might be hard to locate. Use Ancestry’s Red Book to locate the towns and counties • Some court offices have limited help. Sometimes fellow researches are more help in locating the records

13. Can be very time-consuming • Have a specific objective in mind • Schedule enough research time • Learn what records are available and how to use them • Learn as much as possible about the people you are researching before you turn to court records

14. Web Sites • www.archives.state.ut.us/ • www.cyndislist.com/lib-state.htm • www.arkansasresearch.com/g-court.html • www.genealogy.com/47_neill.html • www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/info_court_web_sites.html