Legal Definition
In a legal context, 'proper' refers to the requirement that an action or state conforms to the correct standard or established rule; it signifies that something is done correctly according to the law or contractually required.
Plain-English Translation
Imagine 'proper' means doing exactly what you are supposed to do. If the rules say you must follow a certain way, then 'proper' means doing it exactly right so the judge or the contract says it was done correctly.