Non-attorney old school.  If I find an Estate or an Affidavit that a co-owner is deceased, I always go to the Probate Court and look for and review the file, particularly to check for any potential tax issues that weren't properly cleared ... or even addressed in the case of a surviving spouse.  It's somewhat easier in CT, most of the Probate Court offices are in the same building as the Land Records office.

Notices for open Court matters etc. would be filed on the Land Records.  For me, it is the requesting attorney's call as to what to do next.  Most of the time, I make a copy what was filed on the Land Records; the attorney calls the attorney on the notice and discusses the case with him. 99.9% of the time whatever it is, it involved two or more attorneys negotiating the terms of a release for the Land Records.  There have been cases where the law firm hires an outside abstractor to go to the Civil Court, review the file and report back (not my area of expertise and not cost effective).