Sunday, September 9, 2012

Norwegian Probate Materials

When doing research into your Norwegian family tree, don't forget probate-related materials!  You can uncover a wealth of information such as dates of death, surviving spouse, surviving children and location, property, heir(s), and liabilities.  To find digitized probate materials (skannet skiftemateriale), click here.  Select the county and judicial district; for example, choose Akershus County and Bærum Lensmannskontor.  For "Protocol" select the one you wish -- for example, death registrations or Dødsfallsprotokoll.  A list of record books and appropriate dates will appear.  Click on a link and begin your search.  

Here is an example of a death registration for my gg-grandfather, Olaus Kristensen Jordbærhaugen. The record is the second one of the list (or the only one if looking at the screenshot below rather than following the provided link). The record shows what property he had: 8 cows, two horses, and farm equipment.  Son, Anton Jordbærhaugen, did become the new lessee of the Jordbærhaugen farm.  All his siblings are listed, including their whereabouts.  For example, my two great-uncles who left for America are also listed, one in North Dakota and the other in Canada.  

A screenshot of the record is below.


Happy hunting!


5 comments:

  1. Astrid, actually what you have there is the registerated death of Olaves, and a list of his children. It is not the probate itself.

    THe remark to the right says that a certificate is sent to the widow for her to sit in the undivided estate. I am actually sure that you would find more information on this if you wrote to the Regional State Archive in Oslo. Have you found the death of his wife in these protocols?

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  2. Hi Laila, thanks for clarifying. I should have said "Probate Materials" as the Arkivet site calls it in English. So I changed that part. Yes, I have found the death of the wife, and I know from other records that their son, Anton, does take over the farm lease. Thanks for letting me know about writing the archives for more information. By the way, regarding the graves I emailed you about -- I emailed Bryn Kirke and asked if those graves had been deleted, but I did not receive a response. I hope you are well and perhaps on your return to Florida?

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  3. Astrid, I am still in Norway - back in FL around 10th of November.

    Had a computercrash - so e-mails are only in a backup file - do you have any information about the graves from Gravminner`?

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    1. Hi Laila, I sent you an email with the information. Have you been able to get it or is your computer still crashed? I'm sorry about that, by the way:). I hate the blue screen of death. I hope all is well. Thanks so much for your help. By the way, I am going to a Swedish genealogy conference in Sturbridge, MA in October. I will let you know if I learn anything new. I believe you also had some Swedish line(s)like I do.

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  4. I could say that this is such a great blog same as the blog of houston probate lawyers. So better to keep on posting!

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