An earlier column talked about probate records, which are among the most "open" records in any courthouse. Anyone can go to a courthouse and ask to look at probate records. However, you may find that the court clerks have rules regarding how you access these records. The rules range from tortuous to minimal.

In the most restrictive courts, you are not allowed to handle the documents. You tell the clerk the name of the deceased, and they look in the index to see if there is a probate. If there is one, they retrieve the file. After they make the copy and you pay for the pages, then you can look at the files.

In the more accessible courts, you are allowed to go into the vault to look at the indexes. When you find the file number, you are allowed to pull the file yourself. Most courts operate somewhere between the two extremes.

Often, probate records are in a number of locations. The current ones are in one office, and the old ones are in a different office. Sometimes, they are warehoused off-site, and you have to make a request to have them retrieved.

In small counties, you can go to a courthouse and ask where the probate records are located. Most of the court staff knows where everything is located. In large counties, it takes a bit of sleuthing to find where the probate court is located. There are several ways to do this.

Let’s pretend that you need to locate probate records in Los Angeles County. It’s a large county, so we might assume that it will be difficult to find the documents.

Elizabeth Petty Bentley's County Courthouse Book contains summaries of the probate records available for individual counties. For Los Angeles County, she has the minimal amount of information, but an address and a phone number are given.

The next step is to look at what has been posted on the Los Angles County website of the USGenweb. Here, you find a link that takes you to "Los Angeles Online" with a section that gives a webpage for the probate court. The information on the page indicates that the researcher needs to call to see if there is a probate and that the files are housed off site.

Another option is to check what is available on microfilm through the Family History Library catalog, www.familysearch.org. By doing a "place search" for Los Angeles, and then looking at the category of "Probate records," you find that a number of documents have been filmed. Microfilm can be ordered through your local Family History Center.

If you are interested in other helpful articles, go to my Columns page.

© 2000–2009

Connie Lenzen, CG^SM

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.