Real estate title glossary
What is probate?
Definition
Probate is the court process that proves a will, appoints an executor or administrator, pays the estate's debts and transfers what is left, including real property, to heirs.
Real estate held in one person's name usually needs probate (or a small-estate procedure) to pass clean title. Joint tenancy, transfer on death deeds and trusts avoid it.
How it shows up in a title search
An estate transfer leaves a court file and usually an executor's or administrator's deed; a deed from heirs with no probate record is a gap a search flags.
Guides that go deeper
- Estate and Probate Transfers in the Chain of TitleExecutor’s deeds, letters testamentary, affidavits of death. How to read an estate transfer in the chain of title and why a $1 deed is not a sale price.
- Heir Property: What It Is, Heir Property Rights and Why Title Is UnclearHeir property is land shared by relatives after an owner dies, usually as tenants in common. How title gets unclear, what partition law says, what a search shows.
- Transfer on Death Deed: How It Works, What It Skips and How It Shows in the RecordA transfer on death deed passes real estate to a named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. What the Texas and Arizona statutes require, and the traps.
Related terms
Source: Legal Information Institute, Wex: probate. Plain-English summary of general US usage; state law varies, and this is not legal advice.