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The word ‘probate’ comes from two Latin words: Probatum Something proved Probare To examine, to demonstrate as good
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Many of the subjects within jurisdiction of probate court are matters that were handled through traditional dispute-resolution methods by Great Lakes tribes. European based law reached this region around 1664 when French authorities introduced other means for peaceful dispute resolution. In those early days, disputes could be presented to local authorities, or to a form of arbitration, or referred all the way to Quebec for a decision. With the British came the requirement that all wills be probated. Because the French process for handling of wills was simpler – a will could take effect without probate – the British Governor General ordered the British practice be discontinued, and that the French practice be resumed, on the ground it was cheaper, simpler, and easier. After the region came under the control of the American government, as part of the Northwest Territory, judges of probate were appointed in each county. A 1788 statute provides: There shall be appointed one judge of probate in each county, whose duty it shall be to take the proof of the last wills and testaments and to grant letters testamentary and letters of administration and to do and perform every matter and thing that doth, or by law may appertain to the probate office, excepting the rendering (of) definitive sentence and final decrees. Peter Audrian, the first probate judge to serve in the territory that became Michigan, was appointed in September 1796. Michigan Constitutions of 1835, 1850, 1908 and 1963 each provided for a probate court in every county. The 1963 Constitution allows the legislature to combine the jurisdiction of probate court with a court of limited jurisdiction and requires that all probate judges be lawyers. The legislature created circuit court family division effective in 1998 and transferred juvenile and child protection matters from probate court to circuit court family division. The legislature combined probate court and district court jurisdiction in 13 smaller counties across northern and upper Michigan . This combination becomes effective in Oscoda County on January 1, 2007. [1] Definitions and early history from Remarks of Chief Justice James H. Brickley to Michigan Probate Judges Association, January 16, 1996. |
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