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Florida. Circuit Court (2nd Circuit : Liberty County)
Title, Dates:
Probate records, 1858-1945.
Amount:
6.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
By record type.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
Liberty County was created in 1855 by an act of the State Legislature from portions of Gadsden and Franklin Counties (Ch. 771, Laws). In 1909 the boundary between Liberty and Gadsden Counties was altered slightly by the Legislature (Ch. 5966, Laws). The Clerk of the Circuit Court in each county serves as the official custodian of deed, marriage, and probate records.
Summary:
This series consists of a microfilm copy of the probate records of Liberty County, Florida, circa 1858 to 1945. The series includes records of sales of estates (1858-1935), records of wills (1859-1945), records and letters of administration (1860-1943), a probate order book (1860-1944), and estate papers. Probate is the transfer of property title and rights and of legal responsibility for payment of taxes or custodyfrom the deceased to another party, from a person judged incompetent or insane, or from a minor to an appointed guardian. Probate records document the administration and distribution of an individual's estate after death. A will is a legal instrument by which people declare how they wish their property or estate to be disposed of after their death. Wills usually contain direct statements of relationships between the deceased and his family and denote ownership of specific property and goods. The record of will books also contain otherdocuments related to the administration of an estate, such as letters testamentary and executor bonds and oaths. Record of Wills Book C is indexed.
Administration records concern people who died intestate--having no valid will and thus no provisions for their estate. These records document the appointment by the court of an administrator for such an estate. In addition to letters of administration, the books also contain the applications for letters of administration, orders appointing administrators, and the administrators' oaths and bonds. The administration records are indexed.
Estate papers consist of the various probate records related to a specific decedent's estate. The records may include estate inventories and guardian and administration records.
The order book is a record of court orders handed down in probate cases. The orders include those appointing or discharging executors or administrators, orders for sales of estates, and orders to appraise personal and real property. The order book is indexed.
The record of sales of estates documents the sale of personal and real property of decedents. It lists the property, the buyer and the sale amount. The record of sales book is indexed.
Also included in this series, on microfilm reel 6, are random loose marriage applications, circa the 1920s. Applications for marriage licenses document the applicants' names, ages, races, birthplaces, occupations, and whether either of the applicants had been married previously. Applications sometimes included affidavits and once completed were often used as the marriage license, containing the date of the wedding and the name of the person who performed the ceremony.
Finding Aids:
Microfilm listing available.
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Circuit Court, Second Judicial Circuit, Liberty County. Office of the Clerk. Bristol, Florida.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Marriage records Florida --Liberty County Probate records Florida --Liberty County Insurance, Surety and fidelity Florida
Probate records. aat Marriage records. aat Wills. aat Estate inventories. aat Letters of administration. aat Bonds (Legal records) aat
Liberty County (Fla.)
for detailed listing.