Probate research is, in a sense, a study about family trees. Genealogists and historians are particularly apt to undergo probate research. Probate records give immensely invaluable information to them.

Researchers locate the places where the individuals in the family tree died. Sometimes the names of places are changed over time, or places themselves are located in a different state or country than where it used to be. For example, Eritrea, which is an independent country today, used to be part of Ethiopia. Within the US, some parts of Lincoln County which were in Maine in the 18th century are now parts of Kennebec, Waldo, Washington, Hancock, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc and Knox counties.

Researchers also seek out the exact location of the probate court governing the concern in which they are interested. The Internet and telephones are very useful in this.

Then they find the index of the probate records which are needed. Research libraries and archives can be useful in this work. Usually, indexes are stored at the archive sections of probate courts or web sites hosted by archives. These give a lot of information such as phone numbers and road maps. These indexes also come in printed format and as abstracts on microfilm.

Once the index is found, the researchers look for the decedent