Professor Mirow has published “Testamentary Proceedings in Spanish East Florida, 1783-1821” in Studies in Canon Law and Common Law in Honor of R.H. Helmholz (Troy L. Harris, ed., Berkeley: The Robbins Collection, 2015). This work, one of several in which Mirow examines law in colonial Florida during the second Spanish period, analyzes records of over 160 estates of decedents in St. Augustine and surrounding areas. The records present debts, the administration of estates, inventories, birth records, marriage records, and a variety of petitions dealing with the distribution of property.The materials provide a window into will making, family life and structure, commerce, women, and accidental and suspicious deaths. Numerous petitions sought the disposition, transfer, and manumission of slaves. The contribution concludes with a description and analysis of the documents related to the estate of Pedro Dimarache, a Corsican carpenter who died in St. Augustine in 1792.
“I was so pleased to be asked to contribute to this volume. Professor Helmholz is an internationally admired legal historian who has helped many students in the field. He is also an expert in wills and trusts. I think he will like this piece dealing with probate cases in colonial Florida,” Mirow said.
The chapter may be found at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2612141
Mirow is a founding faculty member of the FIU Law and a member of the Florida bar.
Faculty Website: http://lawdev.wordpress.fiu.edu/faculty/directory/m-c-mirow/