What determines inheritance — information and end of probate (4)
I believe the answer is:
gene
'what determines inheritance' is the definition.
(genes are inherited)
'information and end of probate' is the wordplay.
'information' becomes 'gen' (gen can informally mean information).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'end of' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'probate' is 'e'.
'gen'+'e'='GENE'
(Other definitions for gene that I've seen before include "Hereditary unit on chromosome" , "may be passed to child" , "___ Kelly, star of Singin' In The Rain, d. 1996" , "Hereditary DNA sequence" , "DNA unit" .)