1. Visit the Genealogy tab.
2. Select 1992–Present, which will redirect you to the search portal login page.
3. Choose one of the following options: Create an Account (recommended for frequent users) or Log in as a Guest (no registration required). Review and accept the Terms and Conditions to continue.
4. Once on the main search page, select “Search Public Records.” Use the search fields to look up estate information by name, case number, or date.
5. Click on the correct record to open the case details.
6. In the case record, select the “Document” tab and click on the blue hyperlink for the document you want to view. When the document loads, click “Save Image” (top right corner). This will add the document to your Print Queue.
7. Repeat as needed for any additional documents.
8. When ready to download: Click the yellow “Print Queue” tab at the top of the page. Follow the on-screen instructions to review your selections and complete payment.
9. Fees:

• Viewing documents: Free
• Downloading documents: $0.50 per page
• Transaction fee: $3.00 per order

Historical Records (Prior to 1992) Estate files dated before 1992 are not available online and you must contact our office directly.
** You can also mail a request to our office with a check or money order made payable to "Register of Wills".

The data you are searching on this site consists of over 1,000,000 records held by the Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans' Court offices in the Berks County Services Center (Courthouse). The indexes were compiled by the staff of these offices and volunteers over a period of eight (8) years. The records were typed either from the indexes themselves or, for those records not indexed, from the actual documents.

Of course. We admit it. We have made "a few" typos. The clerks who preceded us in this office also made "a few" spelling errors on the documents and in their hand written indexes. Just email rwills@berkspa.gov and corrections will be made. Please note that records on the Internet cannot be modified individually. The entire database must be uploaded to the web server. Because of the size of these databases and the time required to upload each one, the correction will appear within 90 days of your request. Please be assured the corrections are made immediately to our in-house database and the entire corrected database will be uploaded to the web server at least quarterly.

We have been electronically imaging our records since 2004. We started with the current records since they are the records we use in the office every day. In the near future we hope to make those records available online, and then we will start imaging the older, historically significant records. With over one million indexed records, and with an average of 15 pages per record, you can see we are talking about a monumental undertaking; approximately 15,000,000 documents. It took us eight (8) years just to organize and type the indexes you see. I am reminded of the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer, "One bite at a time!" That's how we will take on this project.

1. Marriage Records
   • $0.50 for Xerox copy of application
   • $10.00 for court-certified copy of application
   • $5.00 for court certified copy
   • $2.00 for uncertified copy of City of Reading marriages

2. Birth/Death Records
   • $2.00 for typed listing of entries as they appear in office dockets
   • $5.00 for court certified certificate containing same as above

3. Estate Records
   • $0.50 per page (Xerox copy); number of pages in file is listed in the index

1. Marriage Records (County of Berks)
   • Name, age, address, birth date, birthplace, occupation, and previous marriage information for each applicant
   • Name, residence, occupation, and birthplace of each applicant's parents
   • Date and place of marriage including name, title and address of officiant

2. Marriage Records (City of Reading)
   • Name, age, occupation, residence, and birthplace of each applicant
   • Date, place, and officiant of marriage ceremony

3. Birth Records (County of Berks)
   • Name, year recorded, place of birth, parents' names, father's occupation

4. Birth Records (City of Reading)
   • Name, date of birth, place of birth, parents' names, father's occupation, physician/midwife's name

5. Death Records (County of Berks)
   • Name, occupation, age, year recorded, place of death, cause of death, date of burial, place of burial, marital status, parents' names

6. Death Records (City of Reading)
   • Name, occupation, age, date of death, cause of death, place of birth, residence, date of burial, place of burial, parents' names, attending physician, other informant

7. Estate Records
   • Includes orphans' court records; can contain estates (both with or without wills), inventories, accounts, guardianships, or any other type of miscellaneous file ordered to this division of the courts

The clerks in this office cannot perform in-depth research for you. The purpose of this web site is to make everyone aware of the records available in this office. We can confirm simple requests such as, "Was an individual survived by wife 'X'." However, we are unable to provide you with a list of heirs, confirm a relationship between two estates, etc.

We are working toward this solution, and it will go hand in hand with our electronic imaging project mentioned above. At this time, we cannot send scanned copies of documents through email.

Presently, we do not accept credit card payments over the Internet. We do accept credit card payments in the office, though, so if you come in personally to make copies, you are welcome to use Visa or MasterCard to pay for them. There is a minimum charge of $20.00 to use a credit card.

This is the third generation of this website. The first site was launched in November, 1997. We had no county resources available at the time, just the data, the concept, and a 14 year old high school student who was willing to create the site for us. We weren't sure if people would be interested, but we wanted to put the indexes up and see what would happen. It was the first time a Register's Office had done so in Pennsylvania. We were overwhelmed by the response.
 
Eventually, the County of Berks established its own website, and at the end of 2002, the Information Systems Department encouraged us to integrate our site with theirs. We ended up with a hybrid system, with the static half of our site on the County's system and the searchable side on our own website. Most people didn't know the difference because we tried hard to make it very seamless as you moved from one to the other. In October of 2006, we fully integrated with the County site, and have the ability to manage our site within theirs.
 
With electronic imaging technology, our goal for the future is to make the actual records available to you online. The revenue generated from our website, through the fees you pay for copies, has helped fund the improvements we have made in technology. The legislature also allows us to collect a special fee for records management. With that additional funding, we have been able to stay on the leading edge of technology in the Register's Office, and that has allowed us to pursue this goal.
 
We hope you like what you see, and welcome your comments and suggestions. Thanks for visiting.