In a message dated 11/2/00 11:22:56 PM Eastern Standard Time, audiana@webtv.net writes: << Does anyone on the list know if there is a record of an index to Orphans Court records available? >> Hi Diana, I believe that the Orphans Court records. are held in the county courthouse of the area,were that person resided. Also if it is any current Orphan Court cases, you are researching , then I would also get the name of the lawyer they appointed to be your guardian. I always thought it was so strange that the surviving parent did not have this control, over the estate or monies left. My dad died when I was six. That was in 1959.My mother was 24 and left with 4 small children.When my father passed, he had insurance at a Steel plant and my mom never saw that money. The money was in the hands of the Orphans court and the court appointed a lawyer to be my guardian. For some reason the money was left to me, and this action made my mothers life very hard. She had to borrow money to bury my dad, because she had no access to the money. Now if she needed somthing for me, she would have to go to Bob Kelly ( now a judge) and petition the court for what she said I needed. She would have to give receipts to the guardian for the purchases. This was going on in 1959. Does anyone know if it still is going on? And does anyone know why the surviving parent shouldn't be the appointed guardian? Mary Jane, Brightstar