Are there probate records in Ostfriesland?

[Jill Morelli]

My great great grandfather died in Ostfriesland in 1862.  Would the probate records be available or are those like notarial records and not available?

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Jill

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[teijodkp]

I think probation is a legal custom that originated in the UK and was introduced in the US that way. I don't think the custom was ever used in Ostfriesland. 

If you wanted to create a will you went to a notary / solicitor. They took care if the validation process. Nowadays there is a national register of wills, thus providing insight in which one was the latest. That will not have existed in 1862. I don't know how they did the validation in older days.

The late Frau Popkes at the Heimatmuseum told me she saved the notary archives of Weener from the old paper bin. I think they are in the Staatsarchive now. When they were still in the Heimatmuseum you could make an appointment and Frau Popkes would extract the documents for you. I went there twice but as my ostfrisian roots are older, I could not find anything useful.

So check arcinsys and or find a local researcher to extract a will if there is one... Or come over for the research 😀.

Teijo

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-------- Oorspronkelijk bericht --------

Van: Jill Morelli <jkmo...@gmail.com>

Datum: 03-02-2026 01:45 (GMT+01:00)

Aan: ostfries...@googlegroups.com

Onderwerp: {Ostfriesen} Are there probate records in Ostfriesland?

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[Lin Strong]

I agree with Teijo.   

Frau Popkes found a will for Anje Martens Polmann who died in 1828 in Bunderhee.   It was very difficult / faded to read, but Rudy Wiemann extracted what information he could.
I wrote an article about the will and contents in an article in the OGSA January 2018 Journal.    

Antje was born in 1770 and apparently wealthy - and she was not impressed with the ways of her husband!   She left everything to her three children. 
Wübbe Alberts was given enough money to get out of debt (one more time), and he could live with one of their daughters, have a bedroom, two meals a day and his laundry done.    He lived 24 years longer!
All of this type of information is now in the Aurich Archives.   I would never have found it without Frau Popkes help.

Lin Strong

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Lin Strong

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[Jill Morelli]

The one notarial document Frau Popkes found for me  was for Baaÿe Loerts Wientjes, my great great grandfather. This reference will make it into the book I am working on of my Ostfriesens.  I talk about the difficulty of names and how they could be going by any number of naming combinations, e. g. Baaÿe Loerts, Baaÿe Loerts Wientjes or Wienenga or any of the other spellings of his various names.  Theodor Cramer, Notary Public was also confused, and made an entry in his book that Baaÿe Loerts was the same guy as Baaÿe Wientjes on two different land transactions.  It was the document that Popkes found for me when she stood on the steps of the Heimat and called my name in the Homecoming Tour.  What a thrill.  I was so excited.

Jill

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[Zandra Ogata]

I have a document from 1812/13 from what I assume is a Notary. Anton C. F. Vietor, from the Detern area.  It is a record of Broer Milfs giving his house to his youngest son, Weiert Milfs.  I also have a fragment of a document that was given to me by a cousin, that I think also concerns this transaction.  The following is the header:

Die Akten werden im Archive Der Biblioteck des Reiderland-Museums in Werner aufbewahrt. 

This might provide a lead to check that archive.  Z

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On Feb 3, 2026, at 10:28 AM, Jill Morelli <jkmo...@gmail.com> wrote:



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