You need evidence of relationships or a fuller picture of a household around a death.
Put the protocol to work.
Identify the likely court and period.
Find the probate jurisdiction for the deceased’s residence and property. Start near the death date but allow for administration that began later or continued for years.
Search wills and administrations.
Look for estates with and without a will. Check indexes under spelling variants, and note case numbers and references to bound volumes.
Request the complete estate file.
Ask about petitions, bonds, inventories, accounts, distributions and loose papers as well as the will. Related guardianship proceedings may have a separate file.
Make a relationship table.
List each person, their stated role, the document date and the exact relationship wording. Distinguish heirs, executors, creditors, witnesses and guardians.
Resolve conflicts with other evidence.
Compare residence, age clues and relationships with deeds, censuses and vital or church records. Write a short conclusion that explains both agreement and unresolved contradictions.
Don’t mistake a clue for a conclusion.
Not every relative appears in a will, and terms such as “son” or “heir” need their legal and historical context. Do not infer the entire family from one document.
Your research checklist
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