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North Carolina Loose Estates Index

The North Carolina Loose Estates Records were indexed from microfilmed images of the documents in folders containing loose estate papers housed at the State Archives of North Carolina. The microfilmed images can be accessed at FamilySearch.org.

NCGS volunteer Taneya Koonce started indexing individual counties in 2013 through 2015, with the 48 counties available at FamilySearch. NCGS combined all those names into a master “decedent index”.  We have now updated the county index pages, adding 45 more counties, and completely updated the master name index.

We believe this index will be of value to researchers who have limited information at their disposal, and that by using these indices as a cross-reference may find relationships that are not otherwise apparent. Use of these indices may also give the researcher a more concrete starting point when exploring the images available at FamilySearch.org.

Search tip: As with any old documents, we are not only subject to less-than-legible handwriting, we are also susceptible to the vagaries of spelling. For example, one of our members has found at least 34 variations in spelling of the name “Osborne.” Remember to try alternate spellings – for example, “Brian” as an alternate of “Bryan.” Transcribers, and indexers after them, can only work with what was written, not what might have been intended. The savvy researcher will keep this in mind when looking for names of specific interest.