How do I access records such as wills/probate (or whatever it is called in Scotland...I'm in America)
In Scotland it's called Confirmation, not probate, and wills etc are confirmed, not proved.
You can view the index and download digital images of wills at
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You need to register, and then you can look at the indexes to wills for free. If you want to see a will, you need to buy credits. These are in block of 30, and they cost £7 (about $10) for 30. You need 10 credits to download a will, so you get 3 wills for your $10.
Watch out for the terminology. If someone died intestate, or if it talks about a testament dative, it means they did not leave a will, so the record of the confirmation is unlikely to tell you much about the family of the deceased. Testament testamentar means that there is a will, as does testate.
Also, there are often two parts to the confirmation; the will (if one exists) and the inventory. The inventory is simply a list and valuation of what the deceased person owned, and it will not contain any information about relatives. It may, of course, be interesting in its own right, because it will say how many cattle or sheep (s)he owned and how much each was worth, and how much money was left and the value of his or her furniture, sometimes down to the last spoon and blanket.
The Will, or Testament testamentar, or sometimes Trust Deed and/or Settlement, is the record of what the deceased person wished to be done with her or his property and assets after death.
See also a much more detailed description at
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/wills.asp