I'm working my way through the NGS Home Study course and came to the Probate lesson, which led me to visit the Escambia Archives to review some early probate files. I was stunned to discover that Florida's privacy laws require that a probate file from 1834 be reviewed by the clerk first and that any inventories, guardianship files, or cause of death be redacted. Meaning I would have to come back another day to give the clerk time to review the 6 pages of microfiche. From 1834, I asked? Surely the statute has a "statute of limitations" that would exclude something that old from redaction! What a learning experience! What's the history on this statute? I understand that it is due to be reviewed in 2014. Is there anything that can be done to persuade the legislature that a time limit should be set on the privacy requirement for historical research? Kay Rudolph