Daily AncestorAncillary administration
Ancillary administration is a second, smaller probate opened in another state where a dead person owned property, to collect it and pay debts there.
Each state controls the land and goods within it. When a person died owning property outside the state where he lived, his estate had to be handled there too. The court of that other state granted ancillary (auxiliary) administration to collect the assets, pay local debts and send the rest back to the main estate.
For research this is a useful lead: an ancillary file in a distant county can reveal property an ancestor held far from home.
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Daily Ancestor. "Ancillary administration." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/ancillary-administration. Last checked 2026-10-12.