Address and phone of living relatives
The addresses and phone numbers of living relatives can usually be found on any of the documents listed below. If you have the minimum information required to find one of these documents, select the name of that document. The items in the list are ordered from most to least important. If you do not have the minimum information required, read the paragraph below this list.
Ensure that you have asked all of your immediate relatives, such as parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles if they know the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives -- perhaps they have an old telephone book, address book, or Christmas card list tucked away somewhere. They may also know of neighbors or friends who might have the information you are looking for.
If you have living relatives who, unbeknownst to you, are doing genealogy research and have submitted files to the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can get their names through the Ancestral File on the FamilySearch computer. All you need to do is look up your common ancestors in the Ancestral File.
Finding address and phone in phone books
Phone books usually contain all of the phone numbers for a particular area, such as the entire United States or Canada. There are even phone books available for some other foreign countries. You can search digitized phone books online, but many libraries carry them as well.
For example, Ancestry has a wide selection of city directories and phone books online. You can search for names and phone numbers throughout the United States just by typing in the name of the individual for whom you are searching. In addition to searching by name, many phone books allow you to search through the database using addresses, cities, states, zip codes, telephone numbers, and business types.
When you search for your living relative in a phone book, it's worthwhile to search for that individual's friends, neighbors, and employers, too. If you know who these people are, they may be able to lead you to the relative that you are looking for.
Finding the minimum information for a phone book
To find the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives in a phone book, you must at least know the individual's full name.
Get help finding the minimum information for:
Finding address and phone with directories
Directories are great sources for finding the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives, or at least for finding places to search for addresses and phone numbers.
Directories come in all types: city, telephone, county, regional, professional, religious, post office, ethnic, and school. The directories that you search will depend on the type of information that you know about the individual. James A. Ethridge's Directory of Directories may be able to help you determine which directory you should look at to find the information that you need. The Directory of Directories is available at most libraries. The directories themselves can also be found in libraries throughout the United States. Because there are so many different directories, you won't find a library that has them all. You may have to check with several libraries before you can locate the directories that you need. For more complete information about directories, see the topic All about directories
Finding the minimum information for directories
To find the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives in a directory, you must at least know the individual's full name, and some background information about the individual, such as an occupation, place of residence, or religion, depending on the type of directory that you use.
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items:
Finding address and phone with DMV records
The DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) records for the individual that you are looking for can be found through the DMV in the state where the individual resides. Not all states allow public access to their DMV records, but it is worth asking because you can often get a current address from this source. Most states now charge fees for searching through their records. To inquire about searches, simply call or write the DMV in the individual's state.
Finding the minimum information for DMV records
To find the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives in DMV records, you must at least know the individual's current full name, date of birth, and state of residence.
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items:
Finding address and phone with mortician's records
A mortician's records normally contain the names and addresses of the deceased's survivors. If they don't have the addresses, or if the addresses are out of date, at least you will have the survivors' names. Of course, if the individual died too many decades ago, the survivors may be more difficult to trace, or may no longer be living.
Contact the morticians in the area where your ancestor lived at the time of his or her death. You can find the names of morticians in the phone book, or through The National Directory of Morticians. Larger libraries may have this directory, or your local mortician may be willing to help you. It is possible that the family mortician is no longer in business. Ask morticians who are currently in the area if they know of any previous morticians and where their records may be. You can also check for the records of previous morticians with the county or town clerk, and in local libraries and genealogical societies.
Once you have contacted prospective morticians, they should be able to tell you if they have records under the name of the deceased.
Finding the minimum information for mortician's records
To find the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives in mortician's records, you must at least know the full name of the deceased at time of death, the approximate date of the death, and the county or town in which the individual lived at the time of death.
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items:
Finding address and phone with probate records
Probate records are records disposing of a deceased individual's property and may include an individual's last will and testament if one was made. You can usually find probate records in the county where the person lived at the time of their death. Probate records often include the names of surviving relatives and their relationship to the deceased. You also can find the addresses of the survivors, because they would need to be contacted at the time of the individual's death. Of course, if the individual died too many decades ago, the survivors may be more difficult to trace, or may no longer be living.
To get a copy of an individual's probate packet or probate estate papers, contact the county clerk, town clerk, or probate clerk where the individual lived at the time of death. For county courthouse phone numbers and addresses, see our Resources by county . The Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also has a large collection of probate records on microfilm, both from the United States and from foreign countries.
For more information about court records, see the topic Court records.
Finding the minimum information for probate records
Probate records are records disposing of a deceased individual's property and may include an individual's last will and testament if one was made. To find the addresses and phone numbers of living relatives in probate records, you must at least know the individual's full name at time of death, the approximate date of death, and the county or town in which the individual lived at the time of death.
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items:
Probate record indexes and abstracts have been created in many counties. These indexes can provide you with the information you need to access the record, even if you don't have the minimum information required to find the original records. Check with libraries and genealogy societies in the area -- they may know if any indexes exist for the records that you need.