Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Probate definition

What does Probate mean? Probate is the court process for proving a will and giving legal authority to deal with a deceased person’s estate. In practice it confirms who may collect assets, pay debts and distribute to beneficiaries. The term is descriptive rather than a single defined statutory concept; procedures are set by legislation and probate rules in each jurisdiction. England and Wales: the executor applies for a grant of probate; on intestacy or where no executor can act, an administrator seeks letters of administration. Both are grants of representation issued by the Probate Registry (HMCTS) under the Senior Courts Act 1981 and the Non‑Contentious...

High Court Probate Jurisdiction in England and Wales: History, Allocation between Family and Chancery Divisions, Registry Functions, and Non-contentious Evidence Requirements

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Practice notes

Jurisdiction

The probate authority of the courts arose within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction that had operated since the fourteenth century. Yet the procedures there were wholly unlike those in their sister Courts of Chancery Law and Chancery. Notably, the Ecclesiastical Courts were guided by ‘… the demands of the law and the conscience of the Court.’ (Wyatt v Ingram, sub nom Ingram v Wyatt (1832) 3 Hag Ecc 466; 1 LJ Ch 135). This equitable stance evolved to safeguard the deceased’s genuine final intentions against relatives’ contrary and self‑interested conduct.

Prior to 1858, the authority to issue or revoke probate of wills, or letters of administration over the estates of deceased persons, rested with about 370 ecclesiastical or secular courts or officials in England and Wales, in addition to the Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York. Following the Court of Probate Act 1857, which took effect on 11 January 1858, the Ecclesiastical Courts surrendered their jurisdiction to the Courts of Probate and Matrimonial Causes. The Court of Probate Act 1857 also created a Principal Probate Registry in London, exercising jurisdiction across England and Wales, and district probate registries with local...

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