How to Research an Ancestor's Will
Researching your family history can often be a challenging but rewarding task. Many public records can help you locate your ancestors such as birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates. Another great resource is a will or probate record of your ancestors. Finding an ancestor's will can often give you additional information about this ancestor and his descendants. This tutorial will teach you how to research your ancestor's will.
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Instructions
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Search County Records
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Determine where and when your ancestor died. Search family and public records, such as death certificates, to determine the county and the date of the death.
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Do an internet search for the county and state with "District Court" added to the end of the search. For example search Jackson County Missouri District Court. Note: County boundaries may have changed; search the county as it was at the time of death.
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Search the state or county archive to find the case or docket number in the available indexes. Alternatively, send a request to the county records department asking them to search for the record. Note: there is usually a cost associated with this method. In addition, this could take a few months before receiving any information.
Search Family History Library
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Go to www.familysearch.org. Click on "Search Records>Library Catalog." Then, click on "Place Search."
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Enter the County where your ancestor died in the "Place" text box and the state in the "Part of" text box . Then, click on "Search."
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Search through the records for a link that says "Probate Records" or "Wills." Click on the link that contains the dates you are searching for. Then, click on "Show notes." This will tell you where the microfilm is located in the Family History Library.
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Visit the Family History Library, which contains over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records. It is located at 35 North West Temple Street, Room 344, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150.
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Locate the microfilm that contains your ancestor's will. Note: In some cases, you may need to review an index microfilm that will tell you the location of the actual will microfilm.
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