Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Probate
1.
Proof.
[Obs.]
Skelton.
2.
(Law)
(a)
Official proof; especially, the proof before a competent officer or tribunal that an instrument offered, purporting to be the last will and testament of a person deceased, is indeed his lawful act; the copy of a will proved, under the seal of the Court of Probate, delivered to the executors with a certificate of its having been proved.
Bouvier.
Burrill.
(b)
The right or jurisdiction of proving wills.
Pro′bate
,Adj.
Of or belonging to a probate, or court of probate;
as, a
. probate
recordProbate Court
, or Court of Probate
a court for the probate of wills.
– Probate duty
, a government tax on property passing by will.
[Eng.]
Pro′bate
,Verb.
T.
To obtain the official approval of, as of an instrument purporting to be the last will and testament;
as, the executor has
. probated
the willWebster 1828 Edition
Probate
PRO'BATE
,Noun.
1.
The probate of a will or testament is the proving of its genuineness and validity, or the exhibition of the will to the proper officer, with the witnesses if necessary, and the process of determining its validity, and the registry of it, and such other proceedings as the laws prescribe, as preliminary to the execution of it by the executor.2.
The right or jurisdiction of proving wills. In England, the spiritual court has the probate of wills. In the United States, the probate of wills belongs to a court of civil jurisdiction established by law, usually to a single judge, called a judge of probate, or a surrogate.3.
Proof. [Not used.]