Using Court Records In Your Research
Source: Genealogy.com
All about court records
Court records cover a wide range of topics, including
land ownership, adoption, taxes, and naturalization. This
topic tells you how court records may help you in your
research. To get more information about what types of
court records exist and where to find them, select any of
the topics listed at the end of this description. Since
court records cover such a wide variety of subjects, they
can help you in many different ways. For example, they
may help you locate ancestors' residences, determine
occupations, find financial information, establish
citizenship status, or clarify relationships between
people. It all depends on the type of court records that
your ancestors" names appear in. Court records
probably are not the first place that you will want to
look for genealogical information because there are so
many other ways that you can locate the information that
you need. However, if you find that your other resources
have failed you, court records may be valuable in your
research.
Types of court records
There are four types of court records that are most
likely to have information relevant to your genealogical
research. Each of these records is described below.
Adoption Records:
An adoption record contains the names of the adopted
child or children, the natural parents, and the adopting
parents. Although these records have good information,
they can only be opened by a court order for "good
cause shown," and often only by the adopted
individual. Genealogical research information is usually
not "good cause."
Divorce Records:
A divorce record normally lists the names of both
spouses, the names of their children (if any), the date
and location of the marriage, the date of birth of both
spouses, the country or state of these births, and the
grounds for the divorce. To get a copy of a divorce
record, write to the court in the county where the
divorce was granted. Include the names of the two
spouses, the approximate year of the divorce, and your
relationship to the couple, in your letter. Some
state vital records offices also have divorce records.
Naturalization Records:
Each record usually contains a petition for citizenship
with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), a
petition with the local court clerk, and a Certificate of
Naturalization. The National Archives has many of these
records. For information about the National Archives, see
the topic The National Archives and regional
centers. You
can also get naturalization records from the INS. Write
to your local INS office and ask for a copy of the form
G-641, Application for Verification of Information from
Immigration and Naturalization Service Records. Records
of early naturalizations will be in the records of the
courts where the naturalization took place.
Probate records:
Probate records can be an excellent source of
genealogical information. Probate records are created at
the time of an individual's death, and are meant to
establish the legality of a will. In probate records, you
can find the will, which will tell you what types of
assets the deceased had. They also often list the names
of survivors, and their relationship to the deceased. If
one of your ancestors was involved in a court case, you
may also find the following types of records:
Case Files: A case file contains evidence, testimony,
correspondence, depositions, and other documents relevant
to the case. Finding a case file normally requires
obtaining a case file number from the index, docket, or
minutes of the case.
Dockets: After a judiciary agrees to hear a case, it is
placed on the court docket until the time of the trial.
Typically, an entry on the docket includes the plaintiff
and defendant for each case, the date of the case's
hearing, the case's file number, and the titles of all
documents relevant to the case. Dockets are normally held
in chronological order and are typically divided by
category, such as criminal, civil, or equity.
Minutes: The minutes, compiled by the clerk of the court,
briefly record all actions of the court on a single day.
Particularly useful when indexes and dockets cannot be
located, they usually list the plaintiff and defendant in
the case and state the action taken. They are normally
organized chronologically but are rarely indexed.
Orders: The recorded orders of the court can be found in
almost every jurisdiction. They generally present a
concise summary of the case and state the judgment to be
carried out. It is worth noting that appointments of
guardians, memorials, naturalizations, and re-recordings
of deeds, especially before this century, are often
recorded in the order books. In addition, a variety of
other administrative data from the locality was also
recorded frequently.
How to find court records
To obtain court records, you would want to look in the
following places:
State and Local Courts: In the United States, every state
has a system of local courts, as well as a state supreme
court. In general, the local courts are the best place to
begin a genealogical search. To get information about
your ancestors in court records, you should either write
with a specific question to the court clerk in the area
where your ancestors lived, or visit the court in person.
Federal Courts: In addition to the state and local
courts, there are currently 89 federal district courts,
U.S. circuit courts of appeals, and, the United States
Supreme Court. Federal courts deal with cases where
federal laws or the provisions of the Constitution have
been violated. Most of these are criminal cases. Again,
to get information about your ancestors in court records,
you should either write with a specific question to the
court clerk in the area where your ancestors lived, or
visit the court in person.