Receipt of probate is the first step in the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person, resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under a will. A probate court (surrogate court) decides the legal validity of a testator's will and grants its approval (which word derives also from the Latin probo, probare) by granting probate to the executor. The probated will becomes a legal document which may be enforced by the executor, in the law-courts if necessary. A probate also officially appoints the executor (or personal representative), generally named in the will, as having legal power to dispose of the testator's assets in the manner specified in the will.

Etymology[link]

The English noun "probate" derives directly from the Latin verb probo, probare,^[1] to try, test, prove, examine,^[2] more specifically from the verb's past participle nominative neuter probatum,^[3] "having been proved". Historically during many centuries a paragraph in Latin of standard format was written by scribes of the particular probate court below the transcription of the will, commencing with the words (for example): Probatum Londini fuit huismodi testamentum coram venerabili viro (name of approver) legum doctore curiae prerogativae Cantuariensis... ("A testament of such a kind was proved at London in the prescence of the venerable man ..... doctor of law at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury...")^[4] The earliest usage of the English word was in 1463, defined as "the official proving of a will".^[5] The term "probative," used in the law of evidence, comes from the same Latin root but has a different English usage.

Probate clause[link]

A representative example of a complete probate clause, from the 14th.c. (or earlier) onwards, added at the bottom of the office transcribed copy of a will is as follows, taken from the will of Anthony Bathurst, 1697, PROB 11/438:^[6]

PROBATUM fuit huiusmodi testamentum apud Londinium coram ^[7] venerabili et egregio viro domino Richardo Raines, milite, legum doctore curiae praerogativae ^[8] Cantuariensis magistro custodis sive commissarii legitime constituti vicesimo tertio die mensis Junii Anno Domini Millesimo Sexcenti Nonaginta Septimo juramento ^[9] Mariae Bathurst relictae et executricis in dicto testamento nominata cui commissa fuit administratio omnium et singulorum bonorum, jurium et creditorum dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter administrando ^[10] eadem ad sancta Dei Evangelis jurat. Examinatur.

Translated literally as:

This will was proved at London before the worshipful Sir Richard Raines, knight, Doctor of Laws, Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, lawfully constituted, on the twenty third day of the month of June in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and ninety seven, by the oath of Mary Bathurst, relict and executrix named in the said will, to whom administration was granted of all and singular the goods, rights and credits of the said deceased, sworn on the holy Gospel of God to well and faithfully administer the same. It has been examined".

Probate administration[link]

Probate is a process by which a will of a deceased person is proved to be valid, such that their property can in due course be retitled (US terminology) or transferred to beneficiaries of the will. As with any legal proceeding, there are technical aspects to probate administration:

• Creditors need to be notified and legal notices published.
• Executors of the will need to be guided in how and when to distribute assets and how to take creditors' rights into account.
• A Petition to appoint a personal representative may need to be filed and letters of administration obtained.
• Homestead property, which follows its own set of unique rules in states like Florida, must be dealt with separately from other assets. In many common law jurisdictions such as Canada, parts of the US, the UK, Australia and India, jointly owned property will pass automatically to the surviving joint owner separately from any will, unless the equitable title is held as tenants in common.
• There are time factors involved in filing and objecting to claims against the estate.
• There may be a lawsuit pending over the decedent's death or there may have been pending suits that are now continuing. There may be separate procedures required in contentious probate cases.
• Real estate or other property may need to be sold to effect correct distribution of assets pursuant to the will or merely to pay debts.
• Estate taxes, gift taxes or inheritance taxes must be considered if the estate exceeds certain thresholds.
• Costs of the administration including ordinary taxation such as income tax on interest and property taxation will be deducted from assets in the estate before distribution by the executors of the will.
• Other assets may simply need to be transferred from the deceased to his or her beneficiaries.

Commonwealth[link]

In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Commonwealth countries (common law jurisdictions), Ireland and in the U.S., probate ("official proving of a will") is obtained by executors of a will while letters of administration are granted where there are no executors.^[11]

United States[link]

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (October 2007)

In any jurisdictions in the U.S. that recognize a married couple's property as tenancy by the entireties, if a person dies intestate (owning property without a will), the portion of his/her estate so titled passes to a surviving spouse without a probate.

If the estate is not automatically devised to the surviving spouse in this manner or through a joint tenancy, and is not held within a trust, it is necessary to "probate the estate", whether or not the decedent had a valid will. A court having jurisdiction of the decedent's estate (a probate court) supervises probate, to administer the disposition of the decedent's property according to the law of the jurisdiction and the decedent's intent as manifested in his testamentary instrument. In order to dispose of certain assets in the estate, it is necessary to sell the illiquid assets including real estate. There are exceptions for smaller estates.^{[citation needed]} If the decedent died without a will, known as intestacy, the estate will be distributed according to the laws of the state where the decedent resided or held by the court. If the decedent died with a will, the will usually names an executor (personal representative), a person tasked with carrying out the instructions laid out in the will. The executor marshals the decedent's assets. If there is no will, or if the will does not name an executor, the probate court can appoint one. Traditionally, the representative of an intestate estate is called an administrator. If the decedent died with a will, but only a copy of the will can be located, many states will allow the copy to be probated, subject to the rebuttable presumption that the testator destroyed the will before death.

In some cases, where the person named as executor cannot administer the probate, or wishes to have someone else do so, another person will be named as administrator. An executor or an administrator may receive compensation for his service.

The probate court may require that the executor provide a fidelity bond, an insurance policy in favor of the estate to protect against possible abuse by the executor.^[12]

The representative of a testate estate who is someone other than the executor named in the will is an administrator with the will annexed, or administrator c.t.a. (from the Latin cum testamento annexo.) The generic term for executors or administrators is personal representative.

Steps of probate[link]

Some of the decedent's property may never enter probate because it passes to another person contractually, such as the death proceeds of an insurance policy insuring the decedent or bank or retirement account that names a beneficiary or is owned as "payable on death", and property (sometimes a bank or brokerage account) legally held as "jointly owned with right of survivorship".

Property held in a revocable or irrevocable trust created during the grantor's lifetime also avoids probate. In these cases in the U.S. no court action is involved and the property is distributed privately, subject to estate taxes.

After opening the probate case with the court, the personal representative inventories and collects the decedent's property. Next, he pays any debts and taxes, including estate tax in the United States, if the estate is taxable at the federal or state level. Finally, he distributes the remaining property to the beneficiaries, either as instructed in the will, or under the intestacy laws of the state.

A party may challenge any aspect of the probate administration, such as a direct challenge to the validity of the will, known as a will contest, a challenge to the status of the person serving as personal representative, a challenge as to the identity of the heirs, and a challenge to whether the personal representative is properly administering the estate. Issues of paternity can be disputed among the potential heirs in intestate estates, especially with the advent of inexpensive DNA profiling techniques. In some situations, however, even biological heirs can be denied their inheritance rights, while non-biological heirs can be granted inheritance rights.^{[citation needed]}

The personal representative must understand and abide by the fiduciary duties, such as a duty to keep money in interest bearing account and to treat all beneficiaries equally. Not complying with the fiduciary duties may allow interested persons to petition for the removal of the personal representative and hold the personal representative liable for any harm to the estate.

England and Wales[link]

When someone dies, the term "probate" usually refers to the legal process whereby the deceased's assets are collected together and, following various legal and fiscal steps and processes, eventually distributed to the beneficiaries of the estate. Technically the term has a particular legal meaning, but it is generally used within the English legal profession as a term to cover all procedures concerned with the administration of a deceased person's estate. As a legal discipline the subject is vast and it is only possible in an article such as this to cover the most common situations, but even that only scratches the surface.

All legal procedures concerned with probate (as defined above) come within the jurisdiction of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice by virtue of Section 25 of the Senior Courts Act 1981. The High Court is therefore the only body that is able to issue the documents which give persons the ability to actually deal with a deceased person's estate, such as to enable them to close bank accounts or sell property or shares. It is the production and issuing of these documents, known collectively as "grants of representation" that is the primary function of the Probate Registries, which are part of the High Court, to which the general public and probate professionals alike apply to for the grants of representation.^[13]

There are many different types of grants of representation, each one designed to cover a particular circumstance. The most common ones are those which cover the two most common situations – either the deceased died leaving a valid will or they did not. If someone left a valid will then it is more than likely that the grant will be a "grant of probate". If there was no will then the grant required is likely to be a "grant of administration". There are many other grants which can be required in certain circumstances and many have technical Latin names but the general public is most likely to encounter grants of probate or administration. If an estate has a value of less than £5,000.00 or if all assets are held jointly and therefore pass by survivorship, for example to a surviving spouse, a grant will not usually be required.^[14]

The general public can apply to a local probate registry for a grant themselves but most people use a probate practitioner such as a solicitor. If an estate is small some banks and building societies will allow accounts to be closed by the deceased's immediate family without a grant, but there usually needs to be less than about £15,000 in the account for them to allow this.

The persons who are actually given the job of dealing with the deceased's assets are called "personal representatives" or "PR's". If the deceased left a valid will then the PR's will be the "executors" who are appointed by the will – "I appoint X and Y to be my executors etc." If there is no will or if the will does not contain a valid appointment of executors (for example if they are all dead) then the PR's are called "administrators". So, executors obtain a grant of probate which enables them to deal with the estate and administrators obtain a grant of administration which enables them to do the same. Apart from that distinction, the function of executors and administrators is exactly the same.

For an explanation of the intestacy probate process in England and Wales, see Administration of an estate on death.

See also[link]

• inheritance

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal – the official scholarly publication of the National College of Probate Judges
• The Connecticut Probate Court Website – providing good state-specific information as well as a link to a widely applicable overview of most Probate Courts' jurisdiction
• List of English and Welsh Regional Probate Registries – Regional Offices for probate information and to register the location of a will or executor

For other Southern University campuses, see Southern University System.

Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section of the City of Baton Rouge. The city parish has a population of more than 500,000 and serves as a cultural, political, educational, and industrial center for South Louisiana. The campus encompasses 512 acres, with an agricultural experimental station on an additional 372-acre site, located five miles north of the main campus. The University is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

History[link]

President William McKinley speaks at Southern University in New Orleans, 1901.

The concept of Southern University was put forth by P. B. S. Pinchback, T. T. Allain, Henry Demas, and as an institution "for the education of persons of color" at the 1879 Louisiana State Constitutional Convention. In April 1880, the Louisiana General Assembly chartered Southern University, originally located in New Orleans. Southern opened its doors on March 7, 1881 (1881-03-07) with twelve students. One of the original locations of the early campus was the former Israel Sinai Temple on Calliope Street, between St. Charles and Camp streets in New Orleans. Southern became a land grant school in 1890, and an Agricultural and Mechanical department was established. Because of continued growth and a lack of land for expansion, the university relocated to what was then Scotlandville, along Scott's Bluff facing the Mississippi River in 1914. It is included as a destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

The new president and first president of what is now known as Southern University at Baton Rouge was Dr. Joseph Samuel Clark. Clark, an outstanding citizen in the Baton Rouge African American community, presided over Baton Rouge College and the Louisiana Colored Teachers Association. The Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1921 authorized the reorganization and expansion of Southern University; and Legislative Act 100 of 1922 provided that the institution be reorganized under the control of the State Board of Education. Clark presided over Southern University during a transitionary period for the institution. The student enrollment grew from forty-seven students to 500 students and many of the school's early buildings were built during this time. Clark presided until his retirement in 1938, at which time the position was given to his son, Dr. Felton Grandison Clark, a renowned speaker and gentleman. Under his tenure, the university underwent tremendous growth. About 33 of 114 current buildings were erected in his 30 years at the university. The student enrollment grew from 500 to nearly 10,000 students. Due to the reluctance of LSU Law School to admit African Americans into its law program, and a law suit that was filed, a special Louisiana Convention allowed a law program, Southern University Law Center to come to Southern University in 1947. The university was one of the first historically black colleges to receive a visit from a First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1943. Also during Clark's tenure, Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) (1956) and Southern University at Shreveport/Bossier City (SUSLA) (1964) were founded. They were later incorporated into the Southern University System in 1974.

In 1969, the university saw a changing of the guard, when Clark retired and Dr. Leon G. Netterville took over the reins of leadership. On November 16, 1972, two students involved with "Students United", a student protest group on the campus, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown, were shot and killed outside the Old Auditorium (now the Southern University Museum of Art). The murders have never been solved.

The institution continued to grow, and in 1974 a special session in the Louisiana Legislature established the Southern University System, with Jesse N. Stone of Shreveport as its president. The Southern University System consists of Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, (SUBR); Southern University, New Orleans (SUNO); Southern University Law Center; Southern University Agricultural Center; and Southern University, Shreveport (SUSLA is a two-year, commuter college). The Southern University Museum of Art at Shreveport is another destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

The Jetson Chair of Public Policy was endowed by former State Representative Kevin P. Reilly, Sr., and his wife, Anna Lamar Switzer Reilly of Baton Rouge. Reilly is the former CEO of Lamar Advertising Company, a company now run by his two sons, Kevin Reilly, Jr., and Sean E. Reilly. The first season of the reality television series College Hill on BET premiered in 2004 with the Southern University campus as its locale.^{[citation needed]}

Campus[link]

Lake Kernan flows through the center of the campus and the Mississippi River forms its western boundary. Since 1960, buildings containing more than 2,000,000 square feet of floor area have been constructed. These buildings include:

• F. G. Clark Activity Center
• J. S. Clark Administration Building
• E. N. Mayberry Dining Hall
• Music Recital Hall
• Isaac Greggs Band Hall
• John B. Cade Library
• School of Nursing Building
• Health Research Wing of Lee Hall
• Rodney G. Higgins Hall for Social Science
• Augustus C. Blanks Hall for Special Education and Psychology
• Baranco-Hill Student Health Center
• College of Engineering Building, P.B.S. Pinchback.

The Smith-Brown Memorial Union, a 66,200-square feet multipurpose building which serves as a major center for extracurricular activities. The recently renovated Union features a 6 food court with popular food outlets; barber and beauty shops; television rooms; 12 bowling lanes; a game room for billiards, video games, and quiet games; an art gallery; a browsing room; a ballroom, meeting and conference rooms; and a U.S. Post Office. The building also houses offices for student organizations.

The F. G. Clark Activity Center has accommodations for theater, athletic events, conferences, convocations, and recreational activities. The building houses the Athletic Department.

The J. S. Clark Administration Building contains the offices of the Southern University Board of Supervisors, the Southern University System officers, the Chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus, and other campus administrative officers.

E. N. Mayberry Dining Hall contains the Magnolia Room, the Cypress Room, and the Oak Room, which is for student dining. Dunn Cafeteria is located in the Freshman Complex.^[4]

Academics[link]

Southern University main campus offers bachelors in 44 areas, 24 master's and 6 doctoral and one associate degree.

Undergraduate[link]

• College of Agriculture, Family, and Consumer Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics
  • Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences
    • Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design
    • Child Development
    • Dietetics
    • Food Science and Management
  • Bachelor of Science in Urban Forestry
• College of Arts and Humanities
  • Bachelor of Arts in English
  • Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts
  • Bachelor of Arts in French
  • Bachelor of Arts in History
  • Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication
    • Broadcasting
    • Print
    • Public Relations
  • Bachelor of Music
  • Bachelor of Arts in Spanish
  • Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication
  • Bachelor of Arts in Theater
• College of Business
  • Bachelor of Science in Accounting
  • Bachelor of Science in Business Economics
  • Bachelor of Science in Finance
  • Bachelor of Science in Business Management
  • Bachelor of Science in Electronic Business
  • Bachelor of Science in Marketing
• College of Education
  • Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education
  • Bachelor of Arts in Special Education
  • Bachelor of Music Education
    • Instrumental
    • Piano and Vocal
  • Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
    • Biology and General Science
    • Chemistry and General Science
    • English
    • French
    • Health and Physical Education
    • Mathematics and a Second Teaching Field
    • Physics and General Science
    • Social Studies and History
    • Spanish
  • Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Studies
• College of Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering
  • Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology
  • Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
• College of Sciences
  • Bachelor of Science in Biology
  • Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
  • Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
    • Business Option
    • Scientific Option
  • Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
  • Bachelor of Science in Physics
  • Bachelor of Science in Psychology
  • Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Services
  • Bachelor of Science in Social Work
  • Bachelor of Science in Sociology
  • Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology and Audiology
• School of Architecture
  • Bachelor of Architecture
• School of Nursing
  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing
• The Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
  • Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
  • Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
  • Associate of Science in Law Enforcement

Graduate[link]

Master of Arts

• Counselor Education
• Mass Communication
• Mental Health Counseling
• Social Sciences
  • Concentration in:
    • History
    • Political Science
    • Sociology

Master of Business Administration

• Business Administration

Master of Science

• Biology
• Traditional Chemistry
• Chemistry – Environmental Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Rehabilitation Counseling
• Speech Language Pathology
• Therapeutic Recreation
• Urban Forestry

Master of Education

• Administration & Supervision
• Elementary Education
• Secondary Education
• Special Education

Master of Criminal Justice

• Criminal Justice

Master of Public Administration

• Public Administration

Master of Science in Nursing

• Nursing

Master of Engineering

• Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy

• Public Policy
• Science and Mathematics Education
• Environmental Toxicology
• Nursing
• Special Education
• Urban Forestry

All Southern University programs are accredited and also are monitored by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Student activities[link]

Athletics[link]

The Southern Jaguars represent the university in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Southern's sports teams participate in Division I (FCS for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Southern University and its northern Louisiana rival, Grambling State University, annually participate in the Bayou Classic on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day in New Orleans. NBC has carried the game live for over 15 years. In 2011, Southern became the first school handed a postseason ban in two sp football) for failing to meet the NCAA's academic progress rate requirements.^[5]

Marching band[link]

The Southern Marching Band and Dancing Dolls in 2008

The Southern University marching band, nicknamed the Human Jukebox, has been featured in television commercials, and invited to participate in the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, Presidential Inauguration ceremonies and several Super Bowl halftime presentations. For many years, the band was one of the few in the U.S. that had no female members but that has changed in recent years;^[when?] currently there are over 20 female members.^{[citation needed]}

Southern's marching band was more infamously involved in a brawl with the Prairie View A&M University marching band during halftime of the 1998 Southern vs. Prairie View A&M football game. The bands for both schools were suspended for two games after the incident. Southern's program honored the suspension, while Prairie View did not.^[6]

Alumni[link]

This section requires expansion.

See also[link]

• List of presidents of Southern University

References[link]

External links[link]

	Louisiana portal
	University portal

• www.subr.edu — Official website
• www.gojagsports.com — Official athletics website
• – Willie Harris Collection