Legal notices

In many countries, a legal action from a local, state, or federal court cannot be completed until official notice is given to the public. Often the court of jurisdiction mandates specific requirements for legal notices including method, location, and frequency of posting before a court ruling is final. In addition, legal notices can be posted by individuals notifying the public of certain actions such as estate auctions and business notices. The information found in legal notices can contain important clues for genealogical research.

In the United States legal notices are often posted in local newspapers and in the "legal notices" section next to the advertisements section.

Types of legal notices

A variety of legal notices can be found in newspaper and other records, almost all of them posted as a result of a legal action in a court of law.

Probate notices

Estate settlements: Notice informing beneficiaries and heirs that they may be involved in a legal action related to settling a person's estate after their death. Notices may include estate inventories.
Wills and administrations: Petitions for probate, estate inventories, testamentary letters, and letters of administration.
Guardianships: Legal notices concerning guardianship for minor children or even for adults focused not so much on the relationship between the guardian(s) and those requiring guardianship, but more so on the property and possessions of those requiring guardianship. Records may include probate court actions, probate court minutes, as well as guardianship bonds and accounting of expenses.

Court notices

Divorce proceedings: Legal notices often include the initial petition for dissolution of marriage notifying the petitioned spouse of the divorce filing. See also Marital discord ads.
Name changes: In the United States, prior to the mid-20th century, a name change did not require a court action. From the 1950s forward legal notices were posted when an individual changed their legal name.
Bankruptcy filings: Notice of a bankruptcy hearing will include abstracted information from the bankruptcy petition. In the United States, bankruptcy is handled by the federal courts with the federal court system being divided into United States District Courts by region.

Land and property transactions

Deed transfers: Notices posted when the deed for a property was transferred from one person or entity to another, even if there was no exchange of money.
Mortgage filings: Any time a mortgage loan is taken out on a property and the borrower has defaulted on the load, a legal notice is posted prior to a sale of foreclosure.
Tax sales: Posting notice of a tax lien and a subsequent sale of property by the county due to delinquent taxes.

Business notices

Partnership dissolutions: A legal notice of ending a business partnership serves to protect each partner so they are not responsible for another partner's debts by third party creditors.
Incorporations: Notifying the public of the formation of a corporation, also listing the "doing business as" or "DBA" name of the new corporation.
Auctions and public sales: A legal notice detailing the date, time, and location of a public auction of business inventory. This often takes place once a business has terminated or as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

Accessing legal notices

Since most legal notices were posted in newspapers, that is the main point of access for genealogy research.

Historical newspapers: Access online databases for historical newspapers using the search term "legal notice." Also try search terms related to the type of notice listed above such as "bankruptcy" or "guardianship."
Local libraries and historical societies: Many archives, libraries, and repositories have bound volumes of historical newspapers from the region as well as digitized versions on microfilm or microfiche.
Courthouse records: Courthouses should have the legal notice related to a court action among the case file records.

Types of information found in legal notices

Information found in legal notices can offer direct evidence of an event such as death date, names of parents, etc. In addition the information can offer clues to further paths of research.

Names: full names of person posting the legal notice and parties involved.
Date: dates for hearings, effective date of court action, death date for estate notices, date of auction or sale.
Age: ages of minor children for guardianship proceedings, age of decedent in estate matters.
Location: death and burial location, hearing or sale location.
Value: amount of mortgage in default, amount of debts in bankruptcy, valuation of estate.

How to use information found in legal notices

Discover distant relatives in estate settlement and probate notices. In addition establish residence and the fact that they were living within a specific time period.
Divorce proceedings will often list a woman's full birth or maiden name.
Determine the wealth of an individual using estate inventories, notices for estate auctions, as well as property tax sales. Also determine the value of a business using bankruptcy notices.
Trace sale or transfer of property using deed transfer and other land notices.

Explore more about legal notices

Law & Genealogy: Law Dictionaries & Legal Terminology - Cyndi's List
List of legal abbreviations - Wikipedia

References