The Juzgado de Bienes de Difuntos (Spanish Indies, 1526-1821)

A standing court in every American Audiencia, staffed by a rotating oidor, whose business was to find the estate of anyone who died in the Indies, inventory it, auction it, ship the proceeds to Seville and hand them to heirs who had never crossed the ocean. Its founding law admits, in the sentence that creates it, that officials had been spending the money — which is why the office was made temporary, unsalaried and removable.