Spouses, siblings, and others can be hiding in the et al. that is used in some indexes–particularly recorder’s indexes to land and court records.
That’s why it’s important to search indexes for the whole family.
A deed where all the heirs are grantors is indexed only under the first name. The other grantors are hiding in the etal reference in the index-they should be named on the deed.
The same thing goes for clerk’s indexes to county court records.
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I guess I’m not to this level yet …. but what is a etal?
It means “and others.” It is used in some handwritten indexes to indicate that there are more people named in the actual deed than just the person listed in the index.