In Connecticut it is a very simple matter of giving the probate court clerk either the decedent's name or docket number and the clerk will retrieve the file. Each town maintains its own probate court or is grouped with several towns that are served by the same probate court. So the volume of files is never huge, and the files are easily produced. Large cities such as Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport or New London may take a little longer, but I have never had a problem.