Is there a relative who never had any children of their own, had no siblings and died owning enough property to require a probate or an estate settlement?<\/p>\n
If so, the records of that settlement may be particularly interesting. The deceased person’s heirs-at-law typically would have been their first cousins or their first cousin’s descendants. Even if there was a will, these heirs-at-law typically would have had to have been notified of the probate. Those records could help determine relationships and indicate where people were living at the time the relative died.<\/p>\n
These estate or probate records would typically be filed at the local court level.<\/p>\n