Series 23288
District Court (Third District : Summit County) Probate case files

Dates: 1871-

32.00 cubic feetSkip to Containers

These records are housed in the Utah State Archives' permanent storage room.

Scope and Content

Probate case files from the Third District Court in Summit County primarily involve the probate of estates for deceased persons and guardianship for minors and incompetent persons. Probate is judicial oversight of property in transition. Probate of estates is the process by which a deceased person's property is identified and maintained, his debts and taxes paid, and then remaining property distributed to beneficiaries as specified in a will or as required by law for persons who die intestate (without a will). In guardianship cases probate is the establishment of a guardian for minors or incompetent adults who hold property that needs management. In addition to probate these case files also include name changes and some adoptions.

Utah's Territorial Assembly established original jurisdiction over the probate of estates and the guardianship of incompetent persons with county probate courts in 1852 (An Act in Relation to the Judiciary. Acts, Resolutions, and Memorials passed by the First Annual, and Special Sessions of the Legislative Assembly. Great Salt Lake City, 1852, Brigham H. Young, Printer. pp. 38-48). That jurisdiction transferred to the probate divisions of District Courts when County Probate Courts were abolished at statehood.

The probate process includes three parts. First, a petitioner must file with the court the documents necessary to have the court appoint a representative. Documents relating to this process include wills, petitions, letters of administration, bonds, etc., and a court order appointing an administrator, executor, or guardian. Second, the appointed representative does all that is necessary to manage the property through the period of transition. Documents filed here might include a court order appointing appraisers, notices to creditors, estate inventories, various kinds of financial statements, receipts, bills, and the court-appointed representative's final report. Finally, when all requirements have been met, such as all bills paid or a minor has become of age, the court mandates a final settlement and releases the representative from any further responsibility.

The Territorial Legislature made provision for formal adoptions in 1884 and assigned jurisdiction to County Probate Courts (Compiled Laws of Utah, vol. II, 1888, part 5, chapter 4). Adoption case files include a formal petition, documents supporting the petition and the court's final decree. In this series adoption case files begin in 1893. Whereas early adoptions were open to the public and sometimes published in the newspaper, adoptions later became private. Most adoption records in this series are closed to public access (see access restrictions note). In addition to probate and adoption, case files this series also include official name changes.

Arrangement

Numerical by case number.

Early case files (pre-1900) are arranged by case number, but the numbers were apparently assigned after the fact and are not chronological. The numbering of cases was started over sometime around the turn of the twentieth century.

Related Records

Probate case files from the District Court (Third District : Summit County), Series 1342, more fully document court proceedings as they relate to individual cases.

Orders and decrees from the District Court (Fourth District : Summit County), Series 17540, contains the complete case files cited throughout these record books.

Probate register index from the District Court (Third District : Summit County), Series 26616, serves as an index to the probate case files.

Probate registers of action from the District Court (Third District : Summit County), Series 26618, contains a summary of actions for each case in the case files.

Inventory and appraisement record books from the District Court (Fourth District : Summit County), Series 27437, contains the complete case files cited throughout these record books.

Record books from Summit County (Utah). Probate Court, Series 27442, contains the complete case files for matters cited at the end of Record Book D.

Custody History

Case files were removed from the court office in Coalville and transferred to the Utah State Archives in October, 2007.

Access Restrictions

Probate proceedings are public records. However adoption records, which are filed throughout the probate case files, require the permission of the Third District Court until 100 years have passed.

Preferred Citation

Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

Processing Note

This series was processed by Jim Kichas in April 2010.

Indexing Terms

Container List

BOX DATE DESCRIPTION
1 1870-1896 1-40
2 1870-1896 41-69
3 1870-1896 70-94
4 1870-1896 95-119
5 1870-1896 120-150
6 1870-1896 151-180
7 1896-1910 1-20
8 1896-1910 21-27
9 1896-1910 28-49
10 1896-1910 50-90
11 1896-1910 91-127
12 1896-1910 128-149
13 1896-1910 150-168
14 1896-1910 169-199
15 1896-1910 200-243
16 1910-1915 244-280
17 1910-1915 281-317
18 1910-1915 318-360
19 1910-1915 361-389
20 1915-1920 390-420
21 1915-1920 421-457
22 1915-1920 458-484
23 1920-1925 485-517
24 1920-1925 518-546
25 1920-1925 547-581
26 1920-1925 582-619
27 1925-1930 620-650
28 1925-1930 651-680
29 1925-1930 681-715
30 1925-1930 716-745
31 1930-1935 746-775
32 1930-1935 776-803
33 1930-1935 804-835
34 1930-1935 836-846
35 1930-1935 847-874
36 1935-1945 875-900
37 1935-1945 901-940
38 1935-1945 941-970
39 1935-1945 971-1010
40 1935-1945 1011-1050
41 1935-1945 1051-1090
42 1935-1945 1091-1128
43 1935-1945 1129-1134
44 1935-1945 1135-1175
45 1945-1955 1176-1210
46 1945-1955 1211-1250
47 1945-1955 1251-1286
48 1945-1955 1287-1331
49 1945-1955 1332-1374
50 1945-1955 1375-1403
51 1945-1955 1403-1440
52 1945-1955 1441-1457

Page Last Updated October 18, 2012.