probate will

8.1

A court paper that confirms a dead person's wishes and lets named people manage their money and things

noun
/ˈproʊbeɪt wɪl/

Formal

: testamento de sucesión

Examples

In Illinois, probate will probably be required where the deceased person owned real estate or had personal property valued at more than $100,000.

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The probate will confirmed the distribution of assets according to the deceased's wishes.
After the funeral, the family submitted the probate will to the court for validation.
To settle the estate, the executor filed the probate will with the local courthouse.

Synonyms

letters testamentary

vsprobate will

Specialized

9.9

An official court paper that lets a person carry out someone's will

confirms will validity and gives broader authority to manage the estate

Surface Forms

probate will singular

probate wills plural

Morphology

probate + will

The meaning is compositionally related to the constituents: 'probate' (the court process of proving wills) modifies 'will', so a learner who knows both words can infer this refers to a will that has been dealt with by probate or confirmed by a court. However, the exact technical sense (an official certificate issued by the court) is legal jargon and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

The noun probate will comes from the idea of a court 'proving' a person's will; probate is the 'prove' part and the will is the dead person's 'wishes' for their money and things. When the court 'proved' the document it gave an official paper that lets the person in charge carry out those wishes, so today probate will means that official paper that makes the will legal.