How to Trace Wills
- 1). Find the contact information for the Clerk of Court for the county in which the deceased died. This information is available online. Using a search engine, type in: Clerk of Court for (County), (State).
- 2). Fill out the appropriate information if the Clerk of Court site has an online form for requesting copies of probated wills. There will be a fee involved for processing your request.
- 3). Contact in person the Clerk of Court of the appropriate county. Bring with you the deceased's name and the year, month and date of death. The more information you have on the date of death, the easier it will be to narrow the search for the will.
- 4). Fill out the appropriate forms and file your request with the Clerk of Court. It may take several weeks before the court can get back to you with a copy of a probated will, especially if you are looking for one filed years or decades ago. There will likely be a fee for both the will search and to get the copy of the will, if one is found.