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	Record Group Number:	800000
	Series/Collection Number:	.L 169
	Creator:	Florida. Circuit Court (12th Circuit : Manatee County)
	Title, Dates:	Probate records, 1857-1936.
	Amount:	45.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
	Medium Included:
	Organization/Arrangement:	By record type.
	Restrictions:
	Terms Governing Use:
	Biographical/Historical:	Manatee County was created in 1855 by an act of the State Legislature (Ch. 628, Laws). It was formed from the southern portion of Hillsborough County. In 1874, the Legislature enlarged Manatee County, extending its eastern border to theKissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee (Ch. 1998, Laws). In 1887, DeSoto County was formed from the southern and eastern portions of Manatee County (Ch. 3770, Laws), and in 1921, Sarasota County was created from the remaining southern portion of Manatee (Ch. 8515, 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 Manatee County, Florida, from 1857 to 1936. The series includes probate record books (1857-1917); administrator's books (1898-1929); administration and guardian records (1914-1932); guardianship books (1898-1936); notices of applications to sell minor's land (1901-1934); letters testamentary (1899-1950); records of wills (1913-1927); appraisements and inventories (1882-1926); county court docket (1915-1917); homestead exemptions (1905-1936); miscellaneous probate records (1919-1929); original estate records; and probate case files. Probate is the transfer of property title and rights and of legal responsibility for payment of taxes or custody from 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. The probate record books may contain numerous types of entries relating to the administration of an estate including returns, estate inventories, court orders, guardian bonds, orders of administration, and waivers of rights of guardianship or administration. The probate record books are 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. The administration books and records are indexed. A will is a legal instrument by which a person declares how they wish their property or estate to be disposed of after their death. Wills usually contain direct statements of relationship between the deceased and his family and denote ownership of specific property and goods. The records of wills are indexed. Guardianship records include letters of guardianship, orders appointing guardians, guardianship oaths and bonds, and annual returns. The guardianship records and books are indexed. Letters testamentary are the formal instruments of authority and appointment given to a person by the probate court, giving him the powers of executor of a decedent's will. The letters testamentary are indexed. The homestead exemption book documents real and personal property exempt from forced sale by the courts under the homestead law of 1868. The book is indexed. Estate records and inventories list and appraise the value of real and personal property included in a decedent's estate. The appraisements and inventories books are indexed. Probate case files bring together all the probate documents related to a specific estate.
	Finding Aids:	Microfilm listing available.
	Additional Physical Form:
	Reproduction Note:	Microfilm.
	Location of Originals/Duplicates:	Circuit Court, Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Manatee County. Office of the Clerk. Bradenton, Florida.
	Associated Materials:
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	Electronic Records Access:
	Subject Access Fields:	Probate records Florida --Manatee County Homestead exemptions Florida Guardian and ward Florida --Manatee County Guardianship Probate records. aat Wills. aat Estate inventories. aat Bonds (Legal records) aat Manatee County (Fla.)
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