Wills and inventories

Wills and inventories for the period 1670 to 1952 are available for research in Trenton. You may find that very few people in your family had them. Still, if you are able to find a will pertaining to your family, it will provide an amazing amount of detail. Also, once you begin looking for earlier ancestors in New Jersey (especially those who were married before 1848) you may find wills and other local records to be your last best hope for finding that early information you need.

For those who have never before used wills and similar records to further their research, it should be pointed out that these documents are often hand-written and microfilmed in such a way that they do require some patience and effort to transcribe. Be prepared to put just a little work into deciphering some of the more sloppy penmanship our forebears have left us.

Before I can get you copies of estate documents, we must determine whether such documents exist.