If you cannot find deeds or records of an estate settlement for your ancestor, look for a partition suit. These suits were filed usually when the heirs could not agree on how a farm or piece of real estate could be equitably partitioned out amongst the heirs. These court cases will be filed in the county courthouse with other court records.<\/p>\n
They typically show how the deceased obtained their property, when they died, and who their heirs were. All are good clues for the genealogist.<\/p>\n
I always look for partitions, but they can be particularly interesting if a relative died with no descendants. That’s when all the relatives come out of the woodwork.<\/p>\n