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Florida. Circuit Court (10th Circuit : Polk County)
Title, Dates:
Probate records, 1861-1975.
Amount:
31.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
By record type.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
Polk County was created by an act of the Legislative Council of Florida on February 4, 1861 (Laws, Chap. 1201). It was formed from Hillsborough and Brevard Counties. In 1873 the boundaries were changed when Orange County defined its boundaries. The last change occurred when Polk County defined its boundaries in 1891. 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 for Polk County, Florida from 1861 to 1975. The series contains a general index to probate dockets (1861-1975), probate dockets (no date), will records (1881-1930), letter of guardianship applications (1888-1914), letters of guardianship (1886-1914), guardianship appointments orders (1888-1914), guardian bond records (1884-1914), guardianship records (1917-1928), letters testamentary petitions (1888-1913), letters testamentary applications (1888-1913), letters testamentary (1913-1936), letters of administration (1885-1013), oaths of administration (1888-1913), administrator and executors bond records (1885-1915), county court judgement indexes (1893-1923), county court minutes (1893-1916), probate court minutes (1861-1905), homestead and exemptions (1882-1897), probate packets numbers 1-302, and general indexes to chancery dockets (1897-1926). Probate is the transfer of property title and rights and of legal responsibility for payment of taxes or of 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.
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 regarding the relationships between the deceased and his family and denote ownership of specific property and goods.
The need for a guardian usually occurs when a decedent is survived by minor children who by law are not considered capable of managing their own life. Thus the court appoints a guardian. The guardianship records include letters of guardianship, orders appointing guardians, guardianship oaths and bonds, and annual returns.
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.
Chancery or equity are terms used to describe court proceedings pertaining to impartial justice between two parties which claim conflict. In chancery cases a person seeks to compel someone to do something or to stop or refrain from doing something. Chancery courts handle divorces, foreclosures of liens, receiverships, partitions, trusts, real property controversies, etc.
The homestead exemption book documents real and personal property exempt from forced sale by the courts under the homestead law of 1868.
Finding Aids:
Microfilm listing available.
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Circuit Court, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Polk County. Office of the Clerk. Bartow, Florida.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Homestead exemptions Florida Probate records Florida --Polk County
Probate records. aat Wills. aat Estate inventories. aat
Polk County (Fla.)
for detailed listing.