probate
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 25 U.S. 169 - Armstrong v. Lear · 1827Most cited · 37 citing opinions
necessary before will may be used in evidence
By the common law, the exclusive right to entertain jurisdiction over wills of personal estate, belongs to the ecclesiastical Courts; and before any testamentary paper of personalty can be admitted in evidence, it must receive probate in those Courts... nothing but the probate or letters of administration, with the will annexed, are legal evidence of the will, in all questions respecting personalty.
How often courts cite the case defining “probate”
Court decisions citing the opinion that defined “probate” — 37 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining case as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.