Series 12488

District Court (Seventh District : Emery County) Probate case files

Dates: 1888-1989.

55 microfilm reels

These records are housed in the Utah State Archives' permanent storage room.

Scope and Content

Probate case files from the Seventh District Court in Emery County primarily involve the probate of estates for deceased persons and guardianship for minors and incompetent persons. Probate is judicial oversight of property in transition. Probate of estates is the process by which a deceased person's property is identified and maintained, his debts and taxes paid, and then remaining property distributed to beneficiaries as specified in a will or as required by law for persons who die intestate (without a will). In guardianship cases probate is the establishment of a guardian for minors or incompetent adults who hold property that needs management. In addition to probate these case files also include name changes and some adoptions.

Utah's Territorial Assembly established original jurisdiction over the probate of estates and the guardianship of incompetent persons with county probate courts in 1852 (An Act in Relation to the Judiciary. Acts, Resolutions, and Memorials passed by the First Annual, and Special Sessions of the Legislative Assembly. Great Salt Lake City, 1852, Brigham H. Young, Printer. pp. 38-48). That jurisdiction transferred to the probate divisions of District Courts when County Probate Courts were abolished at statehood.

The probate process includes three parts. First, a petitioner must file with the court the documents necessary to have the court appoint a representative. Documents relating to this process include wills, petitions, letters of administration, bonds, etc., and a court order appointing an administrator, executor, or guardian. Second, the appointed representative does all that is necessary to manage the property through the period of transition. Documents filed here might include a court order appointing appraisers, notices to creditors, estate inventories, various kinds of financial statements, receipts, bills, and the court-appointed representative's final report. Finally, when all requirements have been met, such as all bills paid or a minor has become of age, the court mandates a final settlement and releases the representative from any further responsibility.

The Territorial Legislature made provision for formal adoptions in 1884 and assigned jurisdiction to County Probate Courts (Compiled Laws of Utah, vol. II, 1888, part 5, chapter 4). Adoption case files include a formal petition, documents supporting the petition and the court's final decree. In this series adoption case files begin in 1893. Whereas early adoptions were open to the public and sometimes published in the newspaper, adoptions later became private. Most adoption records in this series are closed to public access (see access restrictions note). In addition to probate and adoption, case files this series also include official name changes.

Arrangement

Numerical by case number.

For reasons unknown certain case files were removed from their original order and re-filmed. These case files appear on the microfilm reels at the end of the series. They may potentially fill gaps found in the original case file arrangement.

Research Note

It appears that many of the earliest case files in the series contain records that originated in either the Territorial First District Court or the Emery County Probate Court. Several of the earliest case files from this series originate prior to 1896 and presumably made their way into this series when final action was eventually taken in the Seventh District Court.

Related Records

Probate record books from the District Court (Seventh District : Emery County), Series 1088, more fully document court proceedings as they relate to individual cases.

Probate registers of actions from the District Court (Seventh District : Emery County), Series 21917, record the date any action was taken on a case and briefly state what that action was.

Additional Forms

This series is available on microfilm.

Access Restrictions

This series is primarily classified as Public. The secondary classification is Exempt: Judicial records are public unless restricted under rules of civil procedure (UCA 63G-2-301-[1][f]). Included are custody proceedings, guardianship files, minutes, & probate records. Wills are generally considered private data until probate.

Preferred Citation

Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

Gaps in Series

Cases 12-41, 97, and 166 were missing at time of transfer in 1987.

Processing Note

The container list was drafted and preliminary processing completed by Allen Clark in 2008. Final finding aid was drafted by Jim Kichas in June 2008.

Indexing Terms

Container List

REEL	DATE	DESCRIPTION
1	1888-1889	2-13
2	1889-1902	13-44
3	1902-1907	44-71
4	1907-1912	71-110
5	1912-1915	110-149
6	1915-1918	150-196
7	1918-1919	196-207
8	1919-1921	208-222
9	1921-1922	222-239
10	1922-1925	239-283
11	1925-1926	284-307
12	1926-1928	308-325
13	1928-1932	325-371
14	1932-1934	371-411
15	1934-1937	411-459
16	1937-1938	459-485
17	1938-1940	485-524
18	1940-1942	524-571
19	1942-1944	571-616
20	1944-1945	616-662
21	1946	663-668
22	1946-1948	668-732
23	1948-1949	732-780
24	1949-1952	781-833
25	1952-1953	833-860
26	1953-1954	860-909
27	1954-1955	910-951
28	1955-1956	952-985
29	1956-1957	986-1010
30	1957-1958	1011-1034
31	1958	1035-1062
32	1958-1960	1063-1103
33	1960-1961	1104-1138
34	1961-1963	1139-1175
35	1963-1964	1176-1216
36	1964-1966	1217-1255
37	1966-1967	1256-1293
38	1967-1968	1294-1317
39	1968-1969	1318-1350
40	1969-1970	1351-1377
41	1970-1972	1378-1414
42	1972-1973	1415-1453
43	1973-1974	1454-1492
44	1974-1975	1493-1533
45	1975-1976	1534-1592
46	1976-1978	1593-1644
47	1978-1981	1645-1759
48	1981-1985	1760-1924
49	1985-1989	1925-2029
50	1952-1958	918-975
51	1956-1959	975-1019
52	1957-1962	1020-1061
53	1959-1960	1061-1114
54	1964-1968	1229-1289
55	1967-1969	1289-1310