Prerogative Court,

Prerogative Court, in England, was the court wherein all wills were proved and administrations taken out. It was so called because it belonged to the prerogative of the archbishop to take charge of these matters, which formerly fell under ecclesiastical superintendence. Hence there was a Prerogative Court for the province of Canterbury and another for the province of York. This jurisdiction was entirely taken away in 1858 from the ecclesiastics, and transferred to a new court called the Probate Court (q.v.).