Taunton Probate Court Records

Taunton probate court records are managed at the Bristol County Probate and Family Court, which sits right in Taunton at 40 Broadway. As the primary registry for all of Bristol County, the Taunton court handles every probate filing for 20 cities and towns in the region. Residents looking for wills, estate records, guardianship cases, or conservatorship filings can search online through MassCourts or visit the courthouse in person. The court also serves as a key access point for certified copies of probate documents filed across Bristol County.

Taunton Probate Court Location

The Bristol County Probate and Family Court in Taunton is the main registry for all probate filings in the county. This is not a satellite. Every case starts here. Whether you need to file a new petition or pull an old case file, the Taunton court is where you go. The court sits on Broadway in Suite 240, close to the center of town. Staff at the Register of Probate handle all case filings, records requests, and certified copy orders.

Parking in Taunton uses metered street spots and municipal lots near the courthouse. GATRA bus service connects to the area if you need public transit. Call GATRA at (800) 483-2500 for route details. The court sees a high volume of visitors, so plan to arrive well before closing.

Bristol County also has satellite locations in Fall River and New Bedford for hearings. But all filings must go through the Taunton main registry.

Search Taunton Probate Court Records Online

The fastest way to look up Taunton probate court records is through MassCourts, the state's free case search tool. Select "Probate & Family Court" as the department and choose "Bristol" as the division. You can search by name or case number. The system shows party names, docket entries, filing dates, and case status for cases from 2000 onward. Document images may be available for cases filed after 2009.

Bristol County probate docket numbers use the format BR followed by the two-digit year, case group, sequence number, and case type code. If you know the docket number, that gives you the most exact results. Name searches work too but can pull up many results if the name is common. Try adding the year to narrow things down.

For records not available on MassCourts, you can use the Bristol County Virtual Registry via Zoom. Staff will help look up cases and can walk you through the request process during business hours. The virtual registry runs from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and again from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on weekdays.

The copy request instructions on mass.gov explain the full process for getting certified or plain copies from any Probate and Family Court in the state, including the Taunton registry.

The Trial Court provides step-by-step instructions for requesting copies of probate records.

This guide covers what you need to submit a records request by mail or in person at the Bristol County Probate Court in Taunton.

Getting Copies of Taunton Probate Records

To get copies of probate court records in Taunton, you can visit the courthouse, send a request by mail, or use the virtual registry. In person is the quickest option. Walk up to the Register's Office on your visit, give staff the case name or docket number, and they can pull the file. You can view up to 3 files per day without an appointment. Need more than that? Email bristolprobate@jud.state.ma.us by 3:00 PM and you can request up to 12 files for the next business day.

For mail requests, fill out the PFC 18 form and send it to the court with payment. Make checks out to "Commonwealth of Massachusetts." The court does not take personal checks by mail. Use a money order, attorney's check, or bank certified check instead. Plain copies cost $1.00 per page. Certified copies of most documents run $20.00 each. A certified copy of a guardianship decree is $22.00.

Note: Probate cases from 1931 to 1970 in Bristol County have been moved to off-site archive storage, so allow extra time if your request falls in that range.

Probate Filing in Taunton

All probate filings for Bristol County go through the Taunton courthouse. The most common filing is a petition for probate of a will under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-301. You can file informally or formally. Informal probate costs $375 plus a $15 surcharge, for a total of $390. Formal probate adds the cost of a citation, bringing the total to $405. Voluntary administration for small estates is $115.

Guardianship filings for minors have no fee. Guardianship of an incapacitated person costs $255, and conservatorship filings also cost $255. The court sets fees based on the statewide schedule from the Massachusetts Trial Court. You can check the full fee schedule on mass.gov.

If you cannot afford the filing fee, you can ask for a waiver by submitting an Affidavit of Indigency. The judge will review your income and decide if you qualify. Electronic filing through eFileMA is also available for many case types. The first eFiling in a new case has a $22 provider fee on top of regular court fees.

Note: Account filing fees for estates depend on the total value of the estate, ranging from $0 for estates under $25,000 to $3,500 for estates over $10 million.

Probate Court Forms for Taunton Residents

All forms needed for probate matters in Taunton are free to download from the state. The Probate and Family Court forms page has petitions, inventories, accounts, and all supporting paperwork. Bristol County also maintains its own court forms page with local instructions.

Common forms include the MPC 160 for formal probate petitions, MPC 150 for informal probate, MPC 170 for voluntary administration, and the MPC 854 inventory form. The PFC 18 is what you need to request copies of existing records. Each form has instructions, but the court cannot give legal advice on how to fill them out.

• MPC 160: Petition for Formal Probate of Will
• MPC 150: Petition for Informal Probate of Will
• MPC 170: Voluntary Administration Statement
• MPC 854: Inventory Form
• PFC 18: Request for Copies

Historical Probate Records in Taunton

Bristol County has probate records going back to 1686. For older records, several online databases offer free or low-cost access. The AmericanAncestors database, run by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, has Bristol County probate file papers covering 21,143 cases and over 416,600 individual pages from 1761 to 1900. FamilySearch also carries Bristol County probate indexes and images from that same era. These are useful for genealogy research and historical property work.

Published abstracts by H.L. Peter Rounds cover Bristol probate records from 1687 to 1762. The Mayflower Descendant journal has additional abstracts from 1762 to 1768. For records from the 1800s through the early 1900s that are not online, contact the Massachusetts Judicial Archives or visit the Taunton courthouse.

Bristol County Probate Court Records

Taunton is the county seat of Bristol County and home to the main probate registry. The court serves 20 communities including Fall River, New Bedford, Attleboro, and Taunton itself. For a full overview of the Bristol County Probate Court, satellite locations, and all county resources, visit the Bristol County page.

View Bristol County Probate Court Records

Nearby Cities

Other cities near Taunton that have probate court record pages:

Brockton • Fall River • New Bedford