How to Locate My Ancestor's Will

Steps to locating a Will
Steps to locating a Will


Have you ever wondered how to find the will of your ancestor? Not everyone left a will, but there are often probate records available even if there isn't a will. What can I learn from these records? How can they help me in my research? How do I begin? The above lesson I put together to help you through these steps and answer these questions.
How do I view the lesson?

I found an online surname index to wills in the United States using many of the films located at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

www.sampubco.com

Click on the state you want, then the county, then find the surname you are looking for. This person has taken the United States index to wills films at the Family History Library in Salt Lake and has posted all the names on this site so you know if there is a will for the person or surname you are looking for. Then you can send him some money and he will look up the actual will for you. He doesn't list the film numbers, but he does list all of the dates and locations so you can easily find which film the will is on.
You don't need to have him look it up for you. It saves you a step if you are planning on looking up the will yourself and it will let you know if your ancestor has one on file or not. He does not have all the indexes on the site but he has a lot and it is a current site so he may continue to post more.

View Lesson Handouts in PDF


If anyone wants to add information or tips, just leave a comment.
Thanks!