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	Record Group Number:	800000
	Series/Collection Number:	.L 342
	Creator:	Florida. Circuit Court (10th Circuit : Hardee County)
	Title, Dates:	Probate records, 1874-1986.
	Amount:	5.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
	Medium Included:
	Organization/Arrangement:	Chronological.
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	Biographical/Historical:	Hardee County was created by an act of the Legislature on April 23, 1921. Originally part of DeSoto County, it was created when portions of DeSoto were divided into Hardee, Highlands, Glades and Charlotte counties. The clerk of the Circuit Court in each county serves as the official custodian of deed, marriage and probate records.
	Summary:	This series consist of a microfilm copy of the probate records for Hardee County, Florida from 1874 to 1986. The series contains a general index to proceedings in estates (1899-1986), probate docket books (874-1925), order books (1887-1920), a probate minute book (1921-1923), guardianship records (1921-1956), will records (1920-1932), administration records (1921-1943), annual returns (1921-1931) and inventories and appraisements (1921-1952). Probate is the transfer of property 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 docket serves as an index to other probate records. It is arranged by estate and lists all probate actions taken on each estate. Each entry includes the date of action, the nature of the proceeding, and the page and book in which the action is recorded. 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 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. 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. 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 returns book is a record of the annual returns filed in the probate court by estate guardians, administrator or executors. Each entry gives an itemized account of estate profits and expenses during the year along with the final balance.
	Finding Aids:	Microfilm listing available.
	Additional Physical Form:
	Reproduction Note:	Microfilm.
	Location of Originals/Duplicates:	Circuit Court, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Hardee County. Office of the Clerk, Wauchula, Florida.
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	Electronic Records Access:
	Subject Access Fields:	Wills Florida --Hardee County Probate records Florida --Hardee County Guardianship Wills. aat Hardee County (Fla.)
	Added Entries