Will and Sentence

[jayaygee]

Hello

In a register of wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, there is a will of 1711 in English and a number of pages later a sentence in Latin regarding the same will.  Can someone tell me what this means, please?  It appears to be some form of judgement validating the will but how would this differ from probate?  Does it imply that the will was contested?

Cordialement

Judith

[Bookbox]

If a Judicial Sentence is recorded in the probate register it implies there was some sort of dispute. It could be about a number of different things, not necessarily the content of the will. Many such disputes relate to the conduct of the executor/administrator.

The Sentence itself is mostly standard wording. It will name the parties to the dispute and will state whether any challenge was successful, but it rarely gives more detail than that. Its main purpose is to state whether the grant of probate is valid.

[jayaygee]

Thank you very much, Bookbox. That's a great help. Unfortunately my Latin is not up to making much sense of the document but I may be able to work out what it is about thanks to your pointers.