The Collaborative International Dictionary
Probate \Pro"bate\, a. Of or belonging to a probate, or court of probate; as, a probate record.
Probate Court, or Court of Probate, a court for the probate of wills.
Probate duty, a government tax on property passing by will.
Wiktionary
alt. (context legal English) A court (gloss: tribunal) whose function is to administer estates (gloss: property of a decedent) and prove wills n. (context legal English) A court (gloss: tribunal) whose function is to administer estates (gloss: property of a decedent) and prove wills
WordNet
n. a court having jurisdiction over the probate of wills and the administration of estates
Wikipedia
A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts, or courts of ordinary. In some jurisdictions probate court functions are performed by a chancery court or another court of equity, or as a part or division of another court.
Probate courts administer proper distribution of the assets of a decedent (one who has died), adjudicates the validity of wills, enforces the provisions of a valid will (by issuing the grant of probate), prevents malfeasance by executors and administrators of estates, and provides for the equitable distribution of the assets of persons who die intestate (without a valid will), such as by granting a grant of administration giving judicial approval to the personal representative to administer matters of the estate.
In contested matters, the probate court examines the authenticity of a will and decides who is to receive the deceased person's property. In a case of an intestacy, the court determines who is to receive the deceased's property under the law of its jurisdiction. The probate court will then oversee the process of distributing the deceased's assets to the proper beneficiaries. A probate court can be petitioned by interested parties in an estate, such as when a beneficiary feels that an estate is being mishandled. The court has the authority to compel an executor to give an account of their actions.
Usage examples of "probate court".
Both parties have filed petitions which will duly be heard in the probate court.
The will has io go through probate court, and their calendar is rather heavy right now.
When there's a death, the will has to be filed in the probate court.
Chickle to represent Janet's interests in probate court in the event Jimmy died.
The bond the probate court had had her post was perhaps their evaluation in dollars of how much did stand in her way.
There is one big slug of dough all locked up in an escrow account, and we've petitioned the probate court and so on, but she can't be declared dead for years and years and years.
You know what a fuss they can make in probate court about money left behind with no will to probate.
Through Mama, Roy routed a message to the agent's E-mail number in San Francisco, suggesting that he check the records of the probate court to determine if the grandson had been an heir to either the estate of Ethel Porth or that of her husband.
Since 1964 the estates of Santa Maria residents have been administered in the Santa Maria branch of the probate court, but in 1953 wills were filed at the courthouse here.
Wayland died in the sanitarium about six months ago, so the nephew has started all over again in probate court.
The funeral seemed at least as dignified and twice as sober as anyone was likely to remember the late Justice Elroy Bryce of the Denver Probate Court.