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Ever since people have written wills, those wills have had to be proven genuine by a judge. Without a probate process, greedy acquaintances or relatives could write up a fake will stating that all the person's wealth belonged to them. To establish a will as genuine, it must generally be witnessed and stamped by someone officially licensed to do so (though wills have sometimes been approved even when they were just written on a piece of scrap paper, with no witnesses). Today we use probate more broadly to mean everything that's handled in probate court, a special court that oversees the handling of estates (the money and property left when someone dies), making sure that everyone eventually receives what is properly theirs.
Examples of probate in a Sentence
Matthew F. Erskine, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024
The trust is irrevocable but a Nevada probate commissioner previously found that there’s an opening for it to be altered it if the elder Murdoch is acting in good faith and seeking change for the benefit of all heirs.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2024
Cicely Jones, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
She was introduced to probate work by him and has practiced in that area for years, helping with the estate of the late Rosa Parks, some Motown artists and others in Wayne County.
—Staff, Detroit Free Press, 21 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for probate 
Dictionary Entries Near probate
Cite this Entry
“Probate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/probate. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
probate
1 of 2 noun
probate
2 of 2 verbLegal Definition
probate
1 of 2 noun
probate
2 of 2 transitive verbNoun
Latin probatum, neuter of probatus, past participle of probare to test, approve, prove
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