Series 3938
District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County) Probate minutes
Dates: i 1884-1973.
17.50 cubic feet and 43 microfilm reels
These records are housed in the Utah State Archives' permanent storage room.
Historical Note
An agency history is available.
Scope and Content
In 1884, the Salt Lake County Probate Court began to keep probate minutes in addition to ESTATE REGISTERS. The minute books record the daily proceedings in probate and guardianship matters in Salt Lake County. Adoption cases are also recorded. Occasionally, around the turn of the century, incorporation proceedings and corporate dissolutions are included. Each day has records of several cases, and an individual case will span multiple dates.
The minutes are brief entries recording times set, notifications made, and various orders. Orders in estate cases pertain to appointing executors, appointing appraisers, approving bonds of administrators, making family allowances, selling property, etc. In the case of a contested estate, the minutes will name the contestants and their attorneys and state who was sworn and examined but not detail his or her testimony. Details in regard to the will, the amount of the estate, or the distribution are not usually recorded; those details are found in the SALT LAKE COUNTY PROBATE RECORD BOOKS.
Orders in guardianship cases relate to issuance of letters of guardianship, sale of property held in trust, release of guardians, etc. Adoption cases include mention of hearings held, names of parents or social service agency and prospective parents examined, and orders of adoption. Occasionally changes of name cases are noted, listing the old and new names for each petition. More information on each case is recorded in the PROBATE RECORD BOOKS.
With statehood in 1896, the probate courts were abolished and the Third District Court Probate Division in and for Salt Lake County assumed jurisdiction over Salt Lake County probate and guardianship matters. Entries were continued in the same volumes. For a brief period, the probate judge refused to step down, so from January 17, 1896 to February 4, 1896, the probate court and the district court heard the same cases, with the same clerk keeping the minutes of each in the same volume, volume F. On February 5, 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that the probate court no longer existed and that therefore the judge no longer had any authority; the ruling is recorded on page 266.
The minute books span the period from 1884 to 1971. According to district court personnel, the keeping of formal minute books was abandoned in the late 1970s.
Arrangement
Entries in the volumes are chronological; the volumes have alphanumeric labels.
Related Records
Probate case files from the District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Series 1621, cover these same probate cases.
Probate record books from the District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Series 3372, cover details of the guardianship, estate, and adoption cases recorded in this series.
Estate registers from the District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Series 3927, act as a docket to actions taken in probate division cases.
Adoption record books from the District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Series 3932, cover details of adoption cases from 1884-1917 which are recorded briefly in this series.
Civil and criminal case minute books from Salt Lake County (Utah). Probate Court, Series 3939, cover the minutes of the civil and criminal actions of the Probate Court.
Additional Forms
This series is available on microfilm.
Access Restrictions
This series is classified as Exempt: Disclosure of adoption information is prohibited for 100 years. Data on incorporations/dissolutions, estates of deceased persons, guardianships, and name changes are normally public..
Preferred Citation
Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.
Finding Aids
Indexes: The PROBATE RECORDS INDEX, series 17611 can be used to find entries in the ESTATE registers, series 3927. In turn, the dates of individual actions recorded in the ESTATE REGISTERS can be used to locate entries in these minute books.
Indexing Terms
- Adoption--Utah--Salt Lake County.
- Guardian and ward--Utah--Salt Lake County.
- Executors and administrators--Utah--Salt Lake County.
- Probate records--Utah--Salt Lake County.
Container List
| REEL | BOX | VOLUME | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A | 1884-1888 |
| 1 | 32 | B | 1888 |
| 2 | 32 | B | 1888-1890 |
| 2 | 2 | C | 1890-1891 |
| 2 | 3 | D | 1891-1892 |
| 3 | 3 | D | 1892-1893 |
| 4 | 4 | E | 1893-1895 |
| 4 | 5 | F | 1895-1896 |
| 5 | N/A | G | 1896-1898 |
| 6 | N/A | H | 1898-1900 |
| 6 | N/A | I | 1900-1902 |
| 7 | N/A | J | 1903-1904 |
| 7 | N/A | K | 1905-1906 |
| 8 | N/A | K | 1906 |
| 8 | N/A | L | 1906-1909 |
| 8 | N/A | M | 1909-1910 |
| 9 | N/A | M | 1910-1911 |
| 9 | N/A | N | 1911-1913 |
| 10 | N/A | O | 1913-1915 |
| 11 | N/A | P | 1915-1916 |
| 11 | N/A | Q | 1917 |
| 12 | N/A | Q | 1917-1918 |
| 12 | N/A | R | 1919-1920 |
| 13 | N/A | S | 1920-1922 |
| 14 | N/A | S | 1923 |
| 14 | N/A | T | 1924-1926 |
| 15 | N/A | U | 1926-1929 |
| 16 | N/A | V | 1929-1930 |
| 16 | N/A | W | 1931 |
| 17 | N/A | X | 1932-1933 |
| 18 | N/A | X | 1933 |
| 18 | N/A | Z | 1934-1935 |
| 19 | 6 | A-1 | 1935-1936 |
| 19 | 7 | B-1 | 1936-1938 |
| 20 | 8 | C-1 | 1938-1939 |
| 20 | 9 | D-1 | 1939-1941 |
| 21 | 10 | E-1 | 1941-1942 |
| 22 | 11 | F-1 | 1942-1943 |
| 22 | 12 | G-1 | 1943-1944 |
| 22 | 13 | H-1 | 1944-1946 |
| 23 | 14 | I-1 | 1946-1947 |
| 23 | 15 | J-1 | 1947-1948 |
| 24 | 16 | K-1 | 1948-1949 |
| 24 | 17 | L-1 | 1949-1951 |
| 25 | 18 | M-1 | 1951 |
| 25 | 19 | N-1 | 1952-1953 |
| 26 | 20 | O-1 | 1953 |
| 26 | 21 | P-1 | 1954 |
| 27 | 22 | Q-1 | 1955 |
| 27 | 23 | R-1 | 1956 |
| 28 | 24 | S-1 | 1956-1957 |
| 29 | 25 | T-1 | 1958 |
| 29 | 26 | U-1 | 1959 |
| 30 | 26 | U-1 | 1959 |
| 30 | 27 | V-1 | 1960 |
| 30 | 28 | W-1 | 1961 |
| 31 | 28 | W-1 | 1961 |
| 31 | 29 | X-1 | 1962 |
| 32 | N/A | Y-2 | 1962-1963 |
| 33 | N/A | Y-2 | 1963-1964 |
| 34 | 30 | Z-1 | 1964-1965 |
| 35 | N/A | A-2 | 1965-1966 |
| 35 | N/A | B-2 | 1966 |
| 36 | N/A | B-2 | 1966-1967 |
| 36 | N/A | C-2 | 1967-1968 |
| 36 | N/A | D-2 | 1968 |
| 37 | N/A | E-2 | 1969 |
| 38 | N/A | F-2 | 1969-1970 |
Page Last Updated October 18, 2012.