Search Hampshire County Probate Records

Hampshire County probate court records are held at the Probate and Family Court in Northampton. This court serves 20 towns in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, and all probate filings for the area go through its office on Atwood Drive. You can search for wills, estate cases, guardianship orders, and trust records here. The court moved to its current home in 2019, and staff can help you find both new and old case files. Hampshire County also holds some of the oldest probate records in the state, with files going back to 1660. Online tools like MassCourts let you look up case info from home, but certified copies still need to come from the Register of Probate.

Hampshire County Probate and Family Court

The Hampshire County Probate and Family Court handles all probate matters for the area. This includes wills, estates, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, and name changes. The court sits at 15 Atwood Drive in Northampton. It is a part of the Massachusetts Trial Court system. The Register of Probate, Mark Ames, runs the clerk side and manages all case files. First Justice Hon. Diana S. Velez Harris presides over court matters.

Hours at the court are a bit different on Mondays. The office opens at 8:30 AM on Monday and 8:00 AM the rest of the week. It closes at 4:30 PM each day. The court also runs a satellite session on the first and third Thursday of each month from 9:00 AM to noon. You can reach them by phone at (413) 586-8500 or by fax at (413) 584-1132. For ADA help, call Mark Ames at (413) 587-5229.

The court's main page on mass.gov shows current contact info, forms, and court schedules for Hampshire County probate court records.

This page lists the court address, phone numbers, and links to forms you may need for filing.

Search Hampshire County Probate Records

You have a few ways to search for probate court records in Hampshire County. The free online tool is MassCourts, run by the Massachusetts Trial Court. Pick "Probate & Family Court" as the department and then choose Hampshire as the division. You can search by name or case number. The site shows party names, docket entries, case type, and status. Cases filed from 2009 on may also have document images you can view.

For older cases or ones not yet in the system, you need to go in person or send a mail request. The court staff can look up records by name, date, or case number. Bring your ID. You can also call the court at (413) 586-8500 and ask if a case is on file. The Virtual Registry is another option. It runs Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You call in or join a video link, and staff can help with questions, filings, and record lookups. The meeting ID is 16067663380 and the phone line is (646) 828-7666.

The Virtual Registry page for Hampshire County shows how to connect with court staff without driving to Northampton.

This service lets you handle many tasks from home, which is helpful for people in the more rural parts of the county.

Note: Case type searches on MassCourts are limited to a 30-day window, so use a name or case number search for broader results.

Hampshire County Probate Filing Fees

Filing fees at the Hampshire County Probate and Family Court follow the statewide schedule set by the Trial Court. These fees are the same at every Probate and Family Court in the state. Under M.G.L. c. 262, § 40, the court can charge fees for filing and for copies of records. Informal probate costs $375 plus a $15 surcharge for a total of $390. Formal probate is $375 plus the surcharge and a $15 citation fee, bringing it to $405.

Other common fees include:

• Voluntary administration: $115 total
• Guardianship of incapacitated person: $255
• Conservatorship: $255
• Guardianship of a minor: no fee
• Certified copy of a decree: $20 to $22

If you can't afford the fee, ask for a fee waiver. You fill out an Affidavit of Indigency and submit it to the court. The judge will look at your income and decide. The full fee schedule is on mass.gov.

What Hampshire Probate Records Include

Probate court records in Hampshire County cover a wide range of documents. Each case file can hold dozens of pages. The type of case sets what you find in the file. An estate case has the will, the petition for probate, an inventory of assets, and accounts filed by the personal representative. A guardianship file has the petition, medical certificates, care plans, and court orders.

Under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (M.G.L. c. 190B), the court has jurisdiction over wills, estates, trusts, guardianships, and conservatorships. Each of these generates its own set of records. Informal probate under Section 3-102 creates a simpler file with fewer hearings. Formal probate under Section 3-301 leads to more filings and court dates. Both types are kept at the Hampshire County court in Northampton.

Most probate records are public. You can ask to see them or get copies. Some records that deal with minors or incapacitated persons may have parts that are sealed or restricted. Financial statements in guardianship cases, for instance, may not be fully open to the public.

Hampshire County Historical Probate Records

Hampshire County holds some of the oldest probate records in all of Massachusetts. Files go back to 1660, making this one of the most important locations for genealogy research in New England. The court has an index spanning from 1660 to 1971, record books from 1660 to 1916, and file papers from 1660 to 1889. In total, the collection has over 6,538 case records and more than 175,000 individual file papers.

There is a critical detail that researchers need to know. When Hampden County split from Hampshire County in 1812, the deed records for the towns that went to Hampden moved to Springfield. But the probate records for those same towns stayed in Northampton. So if you are looking for pre-1812 probate files for places like Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, or Westfield, you search in Hampshire County, not Hampden. This "split records" issue trips up a lot of people.

The Hampshire County Registry of Deeds handles land records separately and can help with property-related research that connects to estate cases.

The registry site lets you search deed records online, which can help trace property that passed through probate.

Note: Pre-1812 probate records for towns now in Hampden County are held at the Hampshire court in Northampton, not in Springfield.

Filing Probate Cases in Hampshire County

You can file new probate cases at the Hampshire County court in person or through the eFileMA system. The eFiling platform is run by Tyler Technologies and works for most case types. You pay a one-time $22 provider fee for each new case filed online, plus the standard court filing fee. Credit card payments have a 2.89% processing charge. eCheck payments cost just $0.25 per transaction. There is no extra Tyler fee for later filings in the same case.

To get copies of Hampshire County probate court records, use the PFC 18 form. This is the official request form for copies from any Probate and Family Court. You can download PFC 18 from mass.gov. Fill it out with the case name, docket number, and the type of document you need. Mail it to the court at 15 Atwood Drive, Northampton, MA 01060 along with your payment. Make checks payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. By mail, the court only takes attorney checks, money orders, and bank certified checks. In person, they take cash and credit cards too.

You can also get copies of probate court records by visiting the courthouse. The copy request guide on mass.gov walks you through the full process step by step.

Towns in Hampshire County

Hampshire County has 20 towns. All probate filings for these communities go through the Probate and Family Court in Northampton. None of the towns in Hampshire County meet the population threshold for a separate city page. Key towns include Amherst, Northampton, South Hadley, Easthampton, Belchertown, Hadley, and Ware. Each of these towns files probate cases at the same court on Atwood Drive.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Hampshire County. If you are not sure which county handles your probate case, check the town where the person lived. You must file in the right county for the court to have jurisdiction under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 1-303.