Evelyn Bayna asked: > One of the papers I found was a "final account" for an estate for > May READ. She had acquired quite a sum of worth for 1961 and the > list of heirs was over 32. My husband's grandfather, a paternal > cousin, received 1/4th 1/6th of 1/2 estate. I contacted the probate > office for Cook Co. , IL and they say the file is 400 pages. <snip> > My question, does anyone know what I would ask for that would show > how the heirs are related? <snip> Evelyn: You will find your answers in the first documents filed, not the last. The probate file starts with either a will or a petition to probate an intestate estate [i.e. she didn't leave a will]. The latter is probably the case. The person chosen as the executor would have inquired as to her relatives. From what you have said it looks to me as though it works out as follows: Since the estate went to cousins, it follows that May did not have children of her own, or living siblings or their living descendants or living parents. If anyone who descended from her parents out lived her they would have inherited and it would not have gone to a cousin. Working backward, it would seem that your husband's grandfather was one of four siblings that were then living or, if deceased, had descendants [could also be deceased siblings with no descendants that would not have a share], that his grandfather's parent [who was deceased or he or she would have inherited] that was related to May was one of six siblings [again, there could have been more siblings that died without leaving a descendant], one of grandfather's grandparents was one of two closest relatives to May who had descendants. The other one may have been a sibling or could be a relative on her other parent's side. At any rate, this would be spelled out in one or more of the initial documents. Most court files have a list of the documents in the file by title, which might help you search for the right one. Joan Best "Joan Best" <joanbest@earthlink.net>