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State Archives of Florida Online Catalog

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	Record Group Number:	800000
	Series/Collection Number:	.L 343
	Creator:	Florida. Circuit Court (12th Circuit : De Soto County)
	Title, Dates:	Probate records, 1886-1961.
	Amount:	9.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
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	Biographical/Historical:	De Soto County was created by an act (Ch. 3770, Laws) of the State Legislature on May 19, 1887. It was formed from a portion of Manatee County. A subsequent act (Ch. 8513, Laws) of the State Legislature on April 23, 1921 formed four additional counties from De Soto: Hardee, Highlands, Glades and Charlotte. 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 De Soto County, Florida from 1886 to 1961. The series contains a general index to files and records of estates (1887-1942), probate records (1886-1910), order books (1891-1925), guardianship records (1917-1936), letters of guardianship (1891-1917), inventory and appraisement records (1888-1961), annual returns (1913-1944) and letters of administration (1892-1944). 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 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. 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. 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.
	Finding Aids:	Microfilm listing available.
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	Reproduction Note:	Microfilm.
	Location of Originals/Duplicates:	Circuit Court, Twelfth Judicial Circuit, De Soto County. Office of the Clerk. Arcadia, Florida.
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	Subject Access Fields:	Probate records Florida --De Soto County Guardianship Probate records. aat Letters of administration. aat De Soto County (Fla.)
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