You should not have to hire anyone. My experience has been that every clerk's office responsible for probate records has a search and order fulfillment procedure. This is a real common request. The most common procedure in my experience has been a website with instructions, or a number to call. Some probate files are even online in some counties. The search fees have ranged from $5 to $10 and usually span a 5-10 year period, with an additional charge to search more years. Once the file is located, the clerk notified the inquirer with the page count and asked what specific items from the file did the inquirer need, then a cost was provided. Some clerk's take checks, some want money orders of cashier checks. A few accept credit cards. For legal cases, with authorization from my client, I usually only ask for the cover page with cause number, court, identification of the decedent, etc.; and ALL the page/s that name the heirs. I have requested a copy of only the d/c when it was not available elsewhere but the clerk said it was included and available under that laws of that jurisdiction. You just need good questions prepared for the clerk to understand what they will do for you. Mileage for other folks may vary. :-) I am working on one probate case now that has required probate searches for 36 descendants who post-deceased my 1940s decedent. My experience has been that probate cases are the easiest records to get in some jurisdictions. best regards, Dee > On December 10, 2014 at 4:19 PM Eva Goodwin <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dee, I haven't yet - I'll have to hire someone in Chicago to do that. That's > my next step. > > > > > > > > -- > > Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist (sm), Certificate 903 > > Contract Genealogist, US Navy POW/MIA Branch > > > > Mail address - PO Box 1085, Manvel TX 77578 > > Telephone/fax 281-595-3090 <tel:281-595-3090> > > > > <http://www.forensicgenealogyservices.com><http://www.facebook.com/forensicgenealogist> > > > > > > Certified Genealogist (CG) is a service mark (sm) of the Board for > > Certification > > of Genealogists®, conferred to associates who consistently meet ethical > > and competency standards in accord withpeer-reviewed evaluations every five > > years, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark > > Office. > > > > > > >