probate

probate — noun

1. the official court procedure that checks whether a dead person's will meets lega

1.nounB2
Definition

the official court procedure that checks whether a dead person's will meets legal requirements and therefore takes effect as a valid instruction for handling their property and belongings.

Example

Tamar's lawyer applied for probate of her father's will a week after the funeral.

applied for probate of + will

Without probate, the bank would not release the money in Mr. Okafor's accounts.

without probate

Common collocations
  • grant probate
  • apply for probate
  • probate of a will
  • probate court
  • probate process
  • enter probate
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

probate of [a will]

grant probate

apply for probate

Usage Note

Subject is usually the will, the executor, or a court. Frequently occurs in passive constructions such as 'probate was granted'. Distinguish from noun sense 2: this sense concerns the legal procedure itself, not the tax.

Common Mistakes

I need probate of the inheritance tax.
I need probate of my uncle's will.
probate applies to a will, not to a tax or to property directly.

2. a government charge on the money, belongings, or land that a person receives whe

2.nounB2
Definition

a government charge on the money, belongings, or land that a person receives when someone dies and passes those items to them.

Example

Felipe had to pay probate on his grandmother's flat before he could rent it out.

pay probate on + property

The solicitor explained that the cottage fell below the probate threshold, so no tax was due.

probate threshold

Common collocations
  • pay probate
  • probate threshold
  • probate bill
  • probate duty
  • avoid probate
  • subject to probate
Synonyms
  • inheritance tax

    modern term for the same levy; more widely understood outside legal circles

  • estate duty

    older British term for the same charge, still used in some Commonwealth countries

Grammar Patterns

pay probate [on something]

probate tax

Usage Note

More common in British English than American. In modern UK usage this sense often overlaps with 'inheritance tax', though historically 'probate' was the official name of the duty. Distinguish from noun sense 1: this sense is about the payment; sense 1 is about the legal procedure.

Common Mistakes

I filed probate on my father's estate.' — this is ambiguous as it could mean either sense 1 or 2.
I paid probate on my father's estate.
use a clear verb to show tax meaning.

probate — verb

Word family

  • probated
    adjectiveC1
  • probating
    nounC2
  • probative
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three nouns relate to what happens to a person's belongings after they die, but each points to a different piece of the picture. 'Probate' is the legal procedure — the court process that checks the will is good and gives the executor official permission to act. 'Estate' is the thing itself: everything the dead person owned, from cash and houses to furniture and debts. 'Inheritance' is what a specific person receives: the money or property that passes to a particular relative or friend named in the will. Compare: 'The probate took six months' (the procedure was slow), 'The estate was worth two million dollars' (the total value of everything owned), 'She received a large inheritance from her aunt' (the specific portion that came to her). Confusion arises because you cannot easily talk about one without the others — the court probates the will so the executor can manage the estate so the beneficiaries receive their inheritance — but each word names a separate part of the chain.

probate ↗estate ↗inheritance ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • probate court
  • probate process
  • probate lawyer
  • probate judge
  • probate fee
  • probate document

Phrases

  • grant probate
  • apply for probate
  • enter probate
  • go through probate

Prepositions

  • probate of
  • probate for

Etymology

LatinAnglo-Norman FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Probate' comes from Latin 'probare', meaning 'to test, prove, or examine'. That verb came into English through the legal French of medieval courts as 'prove' and later 'probate'. By the 1500s, English courts were using 'probate' specifically for the proving of a will — the moment a judge examined the document and decided it was real. The word still carries that core idea: checking something is genuine before giving it official force. The Latin root 'probus' (good, honest) is also the ancestor of 'prove', 'proof', 'probe', and even 'approve'.