The Mad Genealogist

The word probate refers to the “action or process of proving before a competent judicial officer or tribunal that a document offered for official recognition and registration as the last will and testament of a deceased person is genuine,” but the commonly accepted form of the word includes “the right or jurisdiction of hearing and determining questions or issues arising in matters concerning the probate of wills or the administration of decedents’ estates,” according to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.

Probate records include a variety of documents created to support court proceedings in the settlement of an individuals’ estates. The number and type of probate records created may vary over time in different jurisdictions and due to the amount of real and personal property involved. The various documents generated in the probate process are rarely filed together.