Will Inquiry

How do I find out if the Court has a will on file for someone?

Wills not admitted in a probate estate:

The Court will check to see if a will has been filed for safekeeping when a death certificate is presented (in PDF form, as an attachment, if it's being emailed) to the Court. The death certificate and a written request (please include your email address) may be faxed to (313) 967-4035, emailed to register@wcpc.us, or mailed to:

Wayne County Probate Court
Attn: Probate Register’s Office
1305 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Avenue
Detroit , MI 48226

Once the court receives notification that the testator has died, by the submission of a death certificate, and it is determined that a Will has been filed for safekeeping, you will be able to view and/or print the will from our website.

Wills filed after death:

In certain circumstances, a will may be filed with the Court after the testator died and no estate has been opened. To determine if this occurred, please check the Court’s on-line case access system. Go to case access on the website (www.wcpc.us) and follow the instructions: enter the testator’s name and the Court’s computer system will automatically run this inquiry for you.

Wills filed for safekeeping:

If a will was filed by the testator prior to his/her death, the on-line computer search will not reveal this information as this is non-public information.

Wills to be transferred to another Court:

If a will was filed by the testator prior to his/her death, and an estate has been opened in a Court other than the Wayne County Probate Court, and you would like this will transferred to that Court for admission to the estate, please fax, email register@wcpc.us, or mail a letter requesting this and a death certificate to the aforementioned contact.

Wills admitted in a probate estate:

If a will was admitted in a probate estate with the Wayne County Probate Court, and you would like to obtain a copy of the will, please use the copy request process, found at WCPC - Copy Request to make arrangements. The fees are as follows:

• Standard Copy          $2.00 per page
• Certified Copy           $1.00 per page + $10.00 certification fee, per document