Look Up Union County Probate Records

What Probate Covers in Union County

Probate is the court process that handles a person's estate after death, along with related matters like guardianships and conservatorships. In Mississippi, probate is heard in Chancery Court, not in a separate probate court. Union County follows that pattern, so an estate case is a Chancery Court case, and the records sit with the Chancery Clerk. The same office that handles divorce and land records also handles wills and estates.

The Chancery Clerk, Annette Hickey, runs the public counter for these files in New Albany. There is no official online probate search portal for the county, so the records come through the office by phone, by mail, or in person. The contact card below is the starting point for any estate, guardianship, or will request.

Probate Terms Defined

Probate paperwork uses a set of words that do not come up in everyday life. A quick guide makes the file labels easier to read and helps a requester ask the clerk for the right document.

Testator

The person who made the will. A will speaks for the testator after death.

Executor

The person named in the will to carry out its terms and settle the estate.

Intestate

Dying without a valid will, which sends the estate through the state's default rules.

Administrator

The person the court appoints to settle an estate when there is no executor, often in an intestate case.

Guardianship

A court arrangement giving someone authority to care for a minor or an incapacitated person.

Conservatorship

A court arrangement to manage the property or finances of a person who cannot manage them alone.

Union County Probate Record Types

A probate file is rarely a single document. It builds up over the life of an estate, from the first petition to the final closing order. The records below are the ones most often found in a Union County Chancery Court estate file.

• Wills filed for probate and petitions to open an estate
• Letters testamentary or letters of administration naming who can act
• Executor or administrator bonds where the court requires them
• Inventories and appraisals of estate property
• Creditor notices, claims, and accountings of money paid out
• Orders approving the sale of property and the final distribution
• Guardianship and conservatorship files, including minor's settlements

Land that passes through an estate can also leave a trail in the county land index, separate from the court file. A deed transferring estate property is recorded with the land records, while the petition and orders stay in the Chancery Court file.

How to Search Union County Probate Records

Because no online probate search exists for the county, the dependable route runs through the Chancery Clerk. The office can search the probate index by the decedent's name, the estate name, a date range, or a case number. For land tied to an estate, the DuProcess land-records index can fill in the property side. The steps below follow a request from the first call to a certified copy.

1. Call or visit the Union County Chancery Clerk at 662-534-1900 with the decedent's name and an approximate year.
2. Ask for the Chancery Court probate case index by decedent name, estate name, date range, or case number.
3. Search DuProcess land records for deeds or estate-related instruments tied to the property.
4. Request certified copies of orders or letters when a bank, title company, or court needs them.
5. If nothing appears, ask whether the file is archived, sealed, or recorded under a different spelling.

The closely related divorce, custody, and family files run through the same court, and the chancery side is described on the Union County Chancery Clerk page for anyone tracking a broader set of records.

How an Estate Moves Through Chancery Court

An estate does not close in a single step. It opens with a petition, runs through the work of paying debts and accounting for assets, and ends with a closing order. Knowing the order of events helps explain why a file may hold one document this month and several more later.

1. Decide whether probate is needed, which often turns on real estate, titled assets, or creditor issues.
2. File a petition and the original will, if one exists, with the Chancery Clerk.
3. The chancellor appoints an executor or administrator and issues letters when the requirements are met.
4. Provide creditor notice as required and let the claim period run.
5. Inventory the assets and address debts, taxes, and claims.
6. Sell or transfer property only with court authority when that is required.
7. File a final accounting and obtain the closing order, then record any estate deeds in the land records.

Union County Probate and Estate Fees

Most Union County estate filing and copy amounts were not posted in accessible county sources, so the current figures have to come from the Chancery Clerk. One related online fee is published and real. The DuProcess land-records service charges a credit-card fee on online copy purchases, useful when an estate involves recorded property.

Note: Do not rely on an estate fee quoted for another Mississippi county, since amounts vary and the Union County figures were not confirmed in this research.

Restricted Union County Probate Records

Not every probate record is open to the public. Guardianship and conservatorship files often involve a minor or an incapacitated adult, and those details can be restricted or redacted. Minor's settlements and restricted accounts are handled with extra care because they protect a child's money.

Mental-health and commitment matters that pass through Chancery Court carry the tightest limits, since medical and mental-health information is protected. A general estate file is usually inspectable at the counter, but a request that touches a child, a ward, or a health record may be limited. The clerk can explain what is open and what is closed for a given file without releasing the protected parts.

Marriage and divorce records often surface alongside an estate, since family relationships drive who inherits. Those vital and family records are covered on the Union County marriage and divorce records page, which sits next to probate in the same chancery system.

Federal Court Records and Union County Estates

Some matters that affect an estate are not county probate cases at all. Federal matters, including a bankruptcy that touches a decedent's debts or property, are handled in the federal court system, not in Union County Chancery Court. Union County sits in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, with courthouses in Aberdeen, Greenville, and Oxford. The official site is the Northern District of Mississippi.

The federal court is a separate channel from the county counter. When a federal case overlaps with an estate, the docket lives in the federal system rather than the Chancery Clerk's probate index. The district explains how to reach those dockets on its case-information page.

Federal case documents are reached through an electronic filing system. The district's guide to that system is its ECF and PACER page, which explains how registered users search and view filings.

For a Union County family, the practical point is to keep the two systems straight. A will, an estate, or a guardianship is a county Chancery matter, while a bankruptcy or a federal suit that affects the same family runs through the federal court.

Federal Case Lookup Through PACER

Federal dockets are searched through PACER, the public access service for federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy cases. The Northern District runs its own electronic case filing site for that purpose, the district CM/ECF system. A registered user can check whether a person, company, or partnership has a federal case on file there.

PACER also publishes a court lookup that confirms the right court and gives the service center contact details. The lookup for this district is the PACER court lookup for the Mississippi Northern District.

This federal channel sits apart from county probate. It is the right tool when an estate matter has crossed into bankruptcy or another federal case, and the wrong tool for an ordinary will or guardianship, which stays with the Union County Chancery Clerk.