In fact, within each county, there can be varying degrees of time dated material available to researchers. The FHL has microfilmed many of the probate indexes and probate record books for the entire state. They are generally not films of the complete original file . The main problem with record books is that you never really know for sure what was or was not transcribed into the record book. Most important and most crucial to probate researchers, is that the list of petitioners or list of heirs, is generally not included.
Record books are invaluable in the cases of missing, lost or stolen original probate files.
The serious researcher, if at all possible, should not rely solely on record book transcriptions. Under certain situations, we also provide probate research service in other counties, such as Barnstable, Essex, Hampden, Plymouth and Worcester. If you're interested in another county, please e-mail us for a price quote. If you'd like to order a probate file , please go to our probate order form. Upon receiving payment of your order and depending on location of the original material, we generally can ship probate records within 10 business days.