NBGenWeb_Probate
INTRODUCTION TO PROBATE RECORDS
(Held at The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick)
by Cleadie B. Barnett, C.G. (C)
The Probate Records for New Brunswick are held in Record Group Seven  (RS-007 ) at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.  Individual Counties are separated into Record Series within the Group.  Contact PANB about how to obtain copies.
Most of these records have been filmed, and are available on inter-library loan from PANB, as well as at many LDS Family History Centres.
Abstracts  have been published for the entire province of New Brunswick, up to the year 1835, under the title of, Early New Brunswick Probate Records 1785-1835, by R. Wallace Hale (address of publisher: AGIL, P.O. Box 329; Bountiful, UT 84011-0329) 1989. (Unfortunately, some areas of NB are not covered due to loss of records in fires, etc.)
There are several  things to be remembered about probate papers. One is that they represent only those people who died with a will and had it probated, or when people who without a will (intestate), and had property that had to be transferred, the survivors had to apply to the probate courts to have a Letter of Administration granted to take care of that business.
People who died with a will, but who had no property to transfer may never have had their wills taken to the probate offices, and the business was quietly done among the family members.
Also, if property was involved, but it was a straight forward transfer to heirs, the will was often taken directly to the registry office and the property was transferred, and the will recorded there rather than at the probate office. You will sometimes find a will in the registry office that is not listed with the probate papers.
Another source of probate papers is the Estate Papers where intestate estates were often sent. The index to this set of records can now be found at the Provincial Archives site, in On-line Research; CORRESPONDENCE OF THE PROVINCIAL SECRETARY OF NEW BRUNSWICK - Under Estates
RG007 Records of the Probate Courts
Updated: 10 Sep 2018
This page is part of the New Brunswick GenWeb Project
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~cannb