When JS was killed in June 1844, his financial situation was complex. His finances included both his own personal assets and debts and those he managed as the trustee for the , with little separation between his personal finances and the church’s finances. In fact, , JS’s main financial clerk and agent in , noted in early July 1844 that most of JS’s assets were held by JS as trustee for the church but that most debts were in JS’s personal name and not connected to the trusteeship. This state of affairs made it more difficult for of the estate to pay outstanding in JS’s name. Furthermore, the confusion over these assets led to conflicting claims to JS’s property and other assets.

The financial records related to JS’s estate proceedings include as well as inventories of JS’s personal property, real estate, and . Claims, or requests for payment from those who had unpaid owed by JS, are the most numerous records. Claims took several forms: some were original promissory notes or pay orders JS gave an individual or business as a promise to pay later, others were copies or re-creations of original notes or pay orders, and others were accounts containing multiple debts to businesses or individuals. Most of these claims were submitted to the court as part of the proceedings to settle JS’s estate, but others were handled outside of the court as individuals seeking payment of JS’s debts approached or the newly appointed church trustees, and .

For those submitted to the court, the majority were submitted during the tenure of estate . was initially appointed administratrix over JS’s estate in July 1844—as his widow, she had preference over all other claimants. In the role of administratrix, she oversaw an initial inventory of JS’s personal property, which was later filed with the court. However, in September 1844, Emma was removed from the position of administratrix after she failed to give an adequate for the estate. With Emma’s removal, Coolidge, a Latter-day Saint, was appointed as administrator of JS’s estate and served in that position from September 1844 to August 1848. As administrator, Coolidge created additional inventories, including inventories of real estate, and sold property at public auction to settle many of the claims brought against the estate. In August 1848, the Hancock County Probate Court appointed John M. Ferris as the administrator of JS’s Illinois estate, replacing Coolidge after he left the state. During Ferris’s administration, he inventoried properties deeded to Emma Smith Bidamon and the Smith children, intending to sell them at auction to pay additional estate claims. These and other properties continued to be a point of tension regarding the estate, at least until Emma Bidamon’s dower rights were ultimately satisfied in 1851 and 1852.