Parentage and Probate

[Judy Walburn]

My ancestor, Evelina Christina Johansson, b. 1862 in Sällstorp, Halland, Sweden, immigrated to the US in 1881.  Her birth record shows only her mother's name as Inger Christina Svensdotter, no father's name.  However, Inger did marry in 1871 in Värö, where she was living at the time, to a man named Olaf Johansson, died 2 April 1886.  He was married first to Johanna Jonsdotter, who died in 1845.  He is presumed to be the father of several of Inger's children.  My question is, would he possibly have left a will, and would it mention his illegitimate children?  How would I go about finding this information out?  Would there be court records, and how would I access them?
Thank you.

[Judy Walburn]

Is there anyone who can answer the above question?
Thank you.

[Ingela Martenius]

Wills have never been very common in Sweden, which is of course not the same as saying that they do not exist.
Indeed, until 1971 a will was the only way a father could leave anything to illegitimate children. If a man did not want to leave his illegitimate children anything there was no reason to mention them in a will, or in fact make a will at all.
 
Now, in Sweden you look instead for the bouppteckning. The bouppteckning is an inventory of the estate, with a difference. It lists anyone with a legal interest in the estate, which is to say anyone who is to inherit. The bouppteckning will list legitimate children (of course), but also illegitimate children if they have been mentioned in a will. It will list children who were born illegitimate but were later made legitimate through the parents' subsequent marriage, such as might be the case with your Evelina Christina.
 
You contact the Archive in Lund (because Halland records are kept at the Lund Archive), with the name of the man and when and where (which parish) he died and ask for a copy of the bouppteckning. Since there may have been a will, ask for that as well.
 
You can email the Archive, in English. I believe there is a small fee for making copies.
email: landsarkivet@landsarkivet-lund.ra.se
 
Ingela