Access To Court Records

As your question came through to the UK & Ireland site I will answer as if you are asking from the UK.. None of this information is available on-line in the UK, this being due to the Data Protection Act. You would need to search the BMD indices on one of the on-line websites, such as http://www.ancestry.co.uk or http://www.freebmd.co.uk but the latter as far as I’m aware are still quite a way behind with their information.
Once you find the relevant infromation, you can go directly to register office where the life event was recorded or you can order them from
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ the price for a full certificate from the register office is £7:00 for a full one and there is an extra £5:00 charge for an express copy,( within the next three hours). To order on line you will need the GRO numbers from the indice also know as the Volume and Page number. It costs £8:50 for a certificate from the GRO and takes between 5-7 days to be delivered to you.
The wills and court records are kept at the local archives library, I would suggest you make an afternoon appointment to go and view records there it’s amazing.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/rdleaflet.asp?sLeafletURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enationalarchives%2Egov%2Euk%2Fcatalogue%2Fleaflets%2Fri2301%2Ehtm&lBack=-1
If you are in the UK civil registration began in 1837 prior to that all of the records were kept by the Churches " Parish Records". These can all be viewed at the archives library as well.
There are family history soceitys in just about every town and city in the UK, and then there’s Yahoo answers, where there are lots of willing and able researchers in the UK who are quite happy to help.

You need to start with your local government center. They should have all the records indicated. Check the county you were born in.

Edit your question with your Country. UK? USA? etc

??
I thought you wanted to find your ancestry/ family tree??
Let’s use a will (for example). A will is a legal document that (normally) says something like "my land is to be divided between my children, John Smith, Mary Hiccup, wife of Wm Hiccup," etc. It legally shows relationships. Birth and death certificates also name parents (as well as other info which will be of help, such as where a person was born).
Because humans only remember back so far, you MIGHT remember your own grandfather. You won’t necessarily remember who HIS father was, or even where he lived (so you can know where to look for him). This is the reason why people use documents when searching for ancestors.. not just asking someone.
Overall, birth and death certificates did not exist before about 1900 (the date varies by location). A death certificate and a RECORD of death are two distinct things. A will is a record showing someone’s death. So is a tombstone.
Genealogy (the hobby of finding ancestors) is something that has existed for many many years… people did it before computers or the internet existed. I’m one of those.. the internet has only been around some 15-20 yrs, and I bought my first computer about 24 yrs ago. ANYTHING that is online now, has only been put there in that time frame. When you talk specifically about files or databases (family trees) which are online… THOSE ARE NOT RECORDS. They are simply "reports" of what someone else has researched. Your family MIGHT be in there, but don’t automatically assume that every family is on the internet somewhere, and you could find it, if someone only would tell you where that site is. YOUR birth certificate is a major example of what you will not find online. What you CAN find online is the address for the state vital records office, the cost of ordering it, and maybe a process where you can charge it to your credit card.
The misunderstanding that everyone’s family tree is (a) online and (b) it has to be free… is one we try to help with, everyday. That is not how it works. If that is what you are expecting to find.. we can’t help. We can’t tell you where something is, that does not exist.
How it DOES work, is to find information (in many types of records) that is about your ancestors and their relationships. This is how a family tree is put together. This is something we CAN tell you.
edit-
WHY these documents are used, is the same, no matter where the researcher lives. Where they are found, will differ by location. The poster did not ask where they were, but HOW the records are of value.

Several ways. #1, these are considered PRIMARY RECORDS and not something somebody else has posted as fact.

and #2, these documents usually list siblings, and/or places they lived. Finding a will of my g-g-g-g-grandfather helped me find his daughter (my g-g-g-grandmother) since it listed her residence at that time. I then went to that city and was able to find her date of death and burial spot. Getting a death certificate for my g-g-grandmother enabled me to find her maiden name, and thus trace that line further back.

I collect wills and death certificates ~ also divorce records are a great help. I found a sister of my ancestor who was a witness in her divorce. I spend a lot of time in the court house!

Spud, I might mention something. I can tell from your previous questions that you probably are in the U.K.

These questions fall on the All English Speaking Board and people on it are from the U.S.,U.K.,Canada, Australia and New Zealand. So you might indicate when you ask a question where you are inquiring about or where you are.

I think most in the U.S. are on the all English speaking board since we are the"New World" and people have come here from "Old World," Americans have an interest in European information also.

A birth certificate will give you the maiden name of the mother.

A marriage certificate will give you the names of the married couples fathers and witness’s to the marriage.

A death certificate will give you information on deceased partner. ie if the deceased was a widow.widower and the partners name. (if the deceased were married).

I found one of my great grandfathers names on my grandmothers marriage certificate. This told me her father was alive that year, it helped in my search.

My other grans birth certificate gave me her mothers maiden name which helped me find her parents on the census records.

A death certificate helped me know whether my grandfather was alive when my grandmother died.

So they are helpful.

If you post the location in the UK from where your ancestors came, the more experienced researchers on here may be able to suggest local studies libraries or family history societies where you could get more specific information.
You asked how finding documents, etc, can help. Censuses may show complete families, especially if you can find two or three, each 10 years apart. Birth certificates show mother’s maiden name, and both parent’s names. Marriage certificates show names of both fathers, and witnesses’ names (sometimes informative). Death certifcates show any previous name and the name of notifier of death, usually a relative. Wills show who heirs are (usually spouse or children, grandchildren, sometimes siblings, or nieces and nephews). Court records can show things like a maintenance order for an illegitimate child. A lot of these documents will show addresses current at the time. You will find one piece of information will lead to more, you have to use everything in conjunction with other sources.
Another place to look is old Church registers.
The information I have given you here is very basic.

In England and Wales (Scotland has its own system) these records will tell you, amongst other things, the following:

Birth certificate – this will list the parents (hence you will be able to go back another generation) and the mother’s maiden name, allowing you to search for more details about her. It will (usually) also list the address where the family are living so you will be able to look them up on the census and see what other family members are living at the address.

Marriage certificate – gives the age of the person (although this isn’t always accurate) allowing you to search for a birth certificate, their address which you can then search the census for and their father’s name and profession, which again allows you to go back another generation.

Death certificate – gives the address at which they lived (useful for the census), the person who reported their death and normally their relationship to the deceased (thus giving you another family member) and, if they died in unusual circumstances, it will usually mention if a coroner’s inquest was necessary. If so, records from these inquests can provide more information.

Wills – when someone leaves something to someone in a Will they will usually qualify that person by referring to them as ‘my son’ or ‘my daughter’. This will also help build up a picture of the family.

Court records – it depends on the reason they were in court (!) but if it was something like a family dispute it could provide more information. If they committed some form of crime you could look the incident up in newspapers from the time as their reports sometimes mention family members too.