Find Peabody Probate Court Records

Peabody probate court records are filed at the Essex County Probate and Family Court in Salem. Peabody is one of 34 cities and towns that fall under the Essex County probate division. If you need to look up a will, track an estate case, check on a guardianship filing, or get copies of any probate document involving a Peabody resident, the Salem courthouse is where those records are kept. Online searching is also available through the state court system.

Peabody Probate Court Location

Peabody is in Essex County, so probate matters go through the Essex Probate and Family Court. The main office is at 36 Federal Street in Salem. There is also a satellite office at 2 Appleton Street in Lawrence for the northern part of the county. Peabody is close to Salem, making the main office the natural choice.

You can reach Salem by taking the Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail line to Salem Station, which is a short walk from the courthouse. If you drive, paid parking lots are available in downtown Salem. The MBTA garage near the station costs about $5 per day, which is a reasonable option for a court visit.

The Register of Probate, Pamela A. Casey O'Brien, oversees all filings and records access. The First Justice is Hon. Frances Giordano. You can email the court at Essexcorrespondences@jud.state.ma.us for general questions.

How to Search Peabody Probate Records

Start your search at MassCourts. Select "Probate & Family Court" and choose "Essex" as the division. You can look up cases by party name or docket number. The system shows who is on the case, when it was filed, what type of case it is, and all docket entries. Cases from 2000 onward are in the database.

Essex County docket numbers follow the format ES plus the two-digit year, case group, sequence, and type. So ES15A0064AD would be an Essex County 2015 adoption case. If you have a docket number, use it. Name searches in a county with 34 towns can return a lot of results. Full document images are generally available for cases filed after 2009. Older cases show docket information only, and you would need to request the actual documents in person or by mail.

The Essex County Virtual Registry runs on Zoom from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM on weekdays. It is one of the most generous virtual hours of any county in the state. Call 1 (646) 828-7666 with meeting ID 1613549831 to connect with staff.

Essex County also has a Lawyer for the Day program. Virtual sessions run on Mondays from 9 AM to noon. In-person help at the Salem office is available Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. Visit the Lawyer for the Day page for the current schedule.

The PFC 18 form on mass.gov is the official way to request copies of probate records by mail.

Fill out this form with the case details and send it with payment to the Essex Probate Court in Salem to receive copies of Peabody probate filings.

Peabody Probate Record Copies and Fees

Getting copies of probate records for Peabody cases works the same as any Essex County filing. You can go to the Salem courthouse and ask the clerk to pull the file. Plain copies are $1.00 per page. Certified copies of most documents cost $20.00 each. Guardianship decrees are $22.00. Conservatorship decrees cost $21.00. Exemplified copies are $50 plus $1 per page after the first.

For mail requests, the PFC 18 form is what you need. Include the case name, docket number, and a clear description of what document you want. Payment must be by money order, attorney's check, or bank certified check made out to "Commonwealth of Massachusetts." No personal checks by mail. In person, the court takes cash, credit cards, and checks.

• Plain copy: $1.00 per page
• Certified copy of most documents: $20.00
• Guardianship decree (minor): $22.00
• Conservatorship decree: $21.00
• Exemplified copy: $50 + $1/page
• Attested copy: $2.50 per page

Note: Historical probate records before 2009 do not have document images on MassCourts, so copies of older filings require either an in-person visit or a mail request.

Probate Filing for Peabody Residents

Peabody residents file probate petitions at the Essex County Probate Court in Salem. Informal probate under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-102 costs $390. Formal probate runs $405 with the citation fee. Voluntary administration for small estates is $115. The filing fee is the same across all 14 Probate and Family Courts in Massachusetts.

You can also file electronically through eFileMA. The platform handles informal and formal probate petitions, voluntary administration, guardianship, and other case types. The first eFiling in a new case has a one-time $22 provider fee. After that, there is no additional eFiling charge for later filings in the same case. All court forms are available free at mass.gov.

Essex County Historical Probate Records

Essex County holds some of the oldest probate records in Massachusetts, going back to 1638. The published volumes "The Probate Records of Essex County, MA" by George Francis Dow cover the earliest period in three volumes from 1916 to 1920. Online, AmericanAncestors has Essex County probate file papers through 1881. FamilySearch carries probate records and indexes from the same era. These collections are valuable for genealogy work and historical property research.

For records from the late 1800s through the 1900s that are not yet online, the historic records guide on mass.gov can help you figure out where to look. The Massachusetts State Archives and the Supreme Judicial Court Archives are the main repositories for older material not held at the Salem courthouse.

Essex County Probate Court Records

Peabody is one of 34 cities and towns in Essex County. The Probate and Family Court operates from Salem and Lawrence. For a full look at the county court system, both locations, the virtual registry, and all available resources, visit the Essex County page.

View Essex County Probate Court Records

Nearby Cities

Other cities near Peabody with probate court record pages:

Lynn • Lawrence • Haverhill • Malden • Revere