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Record Group Number: 800000
Series/Collection Number: .L 227
Creator: Florida. Circuit Court (1st Circuit : Walton County)
Title, Dates: Probate records, 1882-1944.
Amount: 5.00 microfilm reel 35 mm.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: By record type, then chronological.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:     Walton County was created by an act of the Florida Legislative Council on December 29, 1924 (Laws).  It was formed from the eastern portion of Jackson County.  Walton County's boundaries were altered several times over the years.  The creation of Holmes County in 1848 altered the northeastern portion.  A boudary change with Santa Rosa County in 1852 altered the western portion.  The creation of Okaloosa County in 1915altered the western half of Walton County. 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 Walton County, Florida from 1882 to 1944.  The series contains probate record books (1882-1894), foreign wills (1920-1928), wills (1897-1937), guardianship records (1900-1937), administration records (1902-1935), letters of testamentary (1900-1944), petitions to sell realty (1910-1938) and probate progress dockets (1916-1937).
    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.
Finding Aids: Microfilm listing available.
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note: Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates: Circuit Court, First Judicial Circuit, Walton County.  Office of the Clerk.  DeFuniak Springs, Florida.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Probate records Florida --Walton County
Probate records. aat
Wills. aat
Estate inventories. aat
Walton County (Fla.)
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