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It is sad that sometimes we know more about the history of our country than about the story of our own ancestors. It is now easier than ever before to change this as court records, like many other types of public records, are easily accessible online. This is a huge advantage for any modern genealogy research project. Below you will find advice which will help you exploit it to the fullest.
Identify a Starting Point
It is possible to search the national database of court records, but this will naturally take more time while involving a higher risk of inaccuracies, especially if your ancestors’ names are fairly common. That is why you should always try to conduct a local search. In general, the narrower it is location-wise, the better.
The records kept by courts cover a specific period of time. They go at least several decades back. Older court records, however, are kept by the authorities responsible for archiving public records. You have to turn to them if you want to go very far back during your genealogy research.
Decide What Types of Records You Will Search
You need to have a clear idea of the records which will be most useful to you. Marriage and divorce records are undoubtedly among the most helpful. If one of your ancestors has been adopted or has been raised by a guardian, you will benefit from accessing adoption and guardianship records. Usually, these are access through a special procedure. However, if they have already fallen into the category of historical records, you may be able to view them directly.
Other types of court records which are not directly related to family history, but could be helpful to you include those of property disputes which have been taken to court. They may help you discover a long-lost uncle or cousin. These records are generally easy to access so you can readily take advantage of them.
Use Accurate Input during the Search
The easiest and fastest way to search court records is by case number. However, since genealogy research naturally doesn’t cover the immediate family that you can obtain such a number from, you will need to use names. This is useful and reliable search input. You just have to ensure that you spell the names of the people correctly. Watch out with those of women in the family. You will benefit from running a search with their maiden names too. This could help you get even more detailed information.
It’s now time for you to start your search of the court records.