Most people understand, in the abstract, that they should have a will. Far fewer understand what happens in Georgia if they die without one, and why the state’s default rules may distribute your property in ways you’d never choose.
Georgia probate isn’t optional. Almost every estate goes through some version of it, whether formal or informal. Understanding the process, what your documents need to say to be valid, and what happens when you don’t have them is the starting point for any real estate planning conversation.
What Happens to Your Property If You Die Without a Will in Georgia?
Dying without a will, or intestate, means Georgia’s intestacy statute (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1) determines who gets your property. The rules follow a priority ladder based on family relationship, not your wishes.
If you’re survived by a spouse and children, Georgia’s intestacy rule splits your estate between them: your children get equal shares, and your spouse gets a share equal to a child’s share, but not less than one-third. So if you have four children, your spouse gets one-fifth of your estate (one share among five) and each child gets one-fifth. If that’s not how you intended your property to pass, it doesn’t matter. The statute controls.
If you have children but no spouse, the children split equally. If you have a spouse and no children, the spouse takes the entire estate. If you have no spouse and no children, the estate passes to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives following the statutory order. If no relatives can be found under the statutory scheme, your property escheats and passes to the state of Georgia.
Common assets that bypass probate entirely do not go through the intestacy rules. These include life insurance with named beneficiaries, retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s) with beneficiary designations, joint tenancy property with right of survivorship, and property held in trust. Only your probate estate is controlled by the statute. But for everything else you own in your name alone, intestacy is the default if you don’t have a valid will.
What Makes a Will Valid in Georgia?
O.C.G.A. § 53-4-20 sets out Georgia’s will execution requirements. To be valid, a will must be:
- In writing (not oral, not video, not recorded on a phone)
- Signed by the testator (the person making the will), or signed by someone else at the testator’s direction and in their presence
- Witnessed by at least two competent witnesses, who sign in the presence of the testator and each other
Georgia does not recognize holographic wills, meaning handwritten wills without witnesses. A will you wrote entirely in your own handwriting and signed, but without witnesses, is not valid in Georgia. Online will services that produce a printable document are potentially valid if executed properly (printed, signed, witnessed), but the execution requirements must be followed exactly.
Georgia also recognizes self-proving wills, which are wills with an attached affidavit signed by the testator and witnesses before a notary, attesting that the will was properly executed. A self-proving affidavit streamlines the probate process because the witnesses don’t have to appear in court to testify about the will’s execution. It doesn’t change what the will says. It speeds up the court process.
A will can be revoked by physically destroying it, by a later will that expressly revokes the earlier one, or by operation of law (Georgia law automatically revokes bequests to a former spouse after divorce, though the will itself remains valid for the rest).
What Is the Georgia Probate Process and How Long Does It Take?
Probate court jurisdiction in Georgia is established by O.C.G.A. § 15-9-1. Each county has a probate court, and the estate is filed in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. For Savannah estates, that’s Chatham County Probate Court. For estates in the Tignall area, that’s Wilkes County Probate Court.
The probate process has several stages. The executor (or administrator, if there’s no will) files a petition with the probate court, along with the original will. The court formally admits the will to probate and issues Letters Testamentary, which authorize the executor to act on behalf of the estate. Creditors must be notified and have a period to file claims. Under O.C.G.A. § 53-7-41, the personal representative must publish a notice to creditors once a week for four weeks in the official county newspaper, and a creditor who fails to present a claim within three months after that last notice is published loses the right to share equally with creditors of the same priority who are paid before the claim comes in. The executor then gathers assets, pays valid debts and expenses, files any required tax returns, and distributes the remaining assets to beneficiaries.
How long this takes depends on the estate’s complexity. A straightforward estate with clear title, no creditor disputes, and cooperative beneficiaries can be closed in six to nine months. An estate with real property in multiple counties, business interests, contested claims, or family conflict can take significantly longer. Contested wills, such as challenges based on lack of capacity or undue influence, go through the probate court on a full evidentiary record and can take years.
What Does a Power of Attorney Do in Georgia?
A will only operates at death. A power of attorney, specifically a durable financial power of attorney, is what protects you and your family during incapacity. Under Georgia’s Power of Attorney Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-6B-1 et seq.), a durable power of attorney remains effective even if you become incapacitated, as long as it contains the required durability language.
Without a durable power of attorney, a family member who needs to manage your finances during a medical crisis (pay your bills, manage your bank accounts, handle real estate, file taxes) must go to court to be appointed your guardian or conservator. That process is expensive, slow, and public. A properly drafted durable power of attorney avoids it entirely.
Georgia also recognizes a healthcare power of attorney, a separate document that designates someone to make medical decisions for you if you can’t make them yourself. This is different from an advance directive (living will), which expresses your wishes about end-of-life treatment. Both documents are important, and they work together.
Guardianship under O.C.G.A. § 29-4-1 covers situations where an individual, a minor or an incapacitated adult, needs someone legally authorized to make personal decisions for them. Guardianship requires court appointment and ongoing supervision. It’s the right tool when there’s no power of attorney in place and one is now needed retroactively, but it’s a more costly and intrusive alternative to proper advance planning.
What Estate Planning Does a Georgia Family Need?
The right answer depends on what you own, who you’re leaving it to, and what your family situation looks like. But most Georgia families need at least these four documents:
A will that says clearly who gets what, designates an executor you trust, and, if you have minor children, names a guardian. Without a guardian designation in your will, a court decides who raises your children.
A durable financial power of attorney that gives someone authority to manage your affairs if you can’t. Without this document, your family will need court intervention to access your bank account or pay your mortgage during a medical crisis.
A healthcare power of attorney that names someone to make medical decisions and expresses your wishes about treatment. Hospitals will not take direction from a family member who isn’t legally designated, not reliably, and not in emergencies.
Beneficiary designations reviewed and updated on every life insurance policy and retirement account you own. Outdated beneficiary designations, such as an ex-spouse from a prior marriage or a parent who has since died, produce results that no will can fix because those assets pass outside of probate.
If your estate is large enough to have estate tax exposure (currently above $13.6 million at the federal level, as Georgia has no separate estate tax), or if you own a business or multiple properties, a trust may provide significant advantages in terms of avoiding probate, managing distributions, and tax planning. Trust planning is also valuable for blended families, beneficiaries with special needs, or situations where you want to control the timing of distributions.
Trusts and Probate Lawyer for Chatham County, Georgia
For Savannah families, a search for a Chatham County probate lawyer should mean Chatham County, Georgia, not Chatham County, North Carolina. Probate for a Savannah resident is handled through Chatham County Probate Court in Georgia, while Tignall and Wilkes County estates are handled locally through Wilkes County Probate Court.
Transcendens Law helps Georgia clients think through wills, trusts, probate filings, executor duties, beneficiary questions, durable powers of attorney, and healthcare decision documents. The work is practical: identify which assets pass through probate, which beneficiary designations control outside probate, which court filing is required, and where a trust or updated estate plan can prevent a family dispute before it starts.
- Confirm the county where the person was domiciled at death.
- Locate the original will, trust, beneficiary designations, deeds, account statements, and insurance documents.
- Identify who has authority to act as executor, administrator, trustee, agent, or healthcare decision maker.
- Separate probate assets from non probate assets before filing anything with the court.
- Use Georgia counsel when the estate involves Chatham County, Wilkes County, Savannah, Tignall, Georgia real property, Georgia business interests, or Georgia family members.
Frequently Asked Questions: Wills, Probate, and Estate Planning in Georgia
Does Georgia have an estate tax? No. Georgia does not impose a separate state estate tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and the current exemption is approximately $13.6 million per individual ($27.2 million per married couple with proper planning). For the vast majority of Georgia families, federal estate tax is not an issue. The planning priority is avoiding probate, protecting assets from creditors, and ensuring assets pass to the right people efficiently.
What is the difference between a will and a trust? A will goes through probate; it’s a public court process. A revocable living trust doesn’t. Assets held in the trust pass directly to beneficiaries without court involvement. A trust also takes effect during your lifetime (you manage it while you’re alive and competent) whereas a will only operates at death. Trusts have higher upfront costs than wills but can save significant time and cost at death, particularly for estates with real property in multiple states.
I was named executor of an estate. Do I need an attorney? You’re not legally required to have one in Georgia, but it’s almost always advisable for any estate with real property, business interests, creditor claims, or family conflict. Executors have a fiduciary duty to beneficiaries, with personal liability for mishandling estate assets. A probate attorney helps you work through creditor periods, tax filings, asset transfers, and the final accounting without creating exposure for yourself.
Can someone contest a will in Georgia, and on what grounds? Yes. Georgia recognizes will contests on the following grounds: lack of testamentary capacity (the person didn’t understand what they were signing), undue influence (someone improperly pressured the testator), fraud or forgery, improper execution (the will doesn’t meet Georgia’s formal requirements), or revocation (a later will or act of destruction). Contests are filed in probate court and can escalate to the superior court for full jury trial. The standard for testamentary capacity in Georgia is relatively low. The testator must understand that they’re making a will, know the nature of their property, know who their natural heirs are, and understand the transaction. Incapacity claims require medical evidence and testimony.
What if my loved one died with accounts I can’t access without going through probate? Georgia offers a simplified process for small estates, the year’s support petition and summary administration, that avoids full probate for estates that qualify. If the estate doesn’t qualify, you’ll need to open a full probate proceeding and get Letters Testamentary. In the meantime, some financial institutions will honor a death certificate plus a simple affidavit for small balances under a threshold amount (often $10,000 to $15,000). A probate attorney can assess whether summary administration or full probate is the right path given the specific assets involved.
Last reviewed July 2026 by Victoria Helgesen, State Bar of Georgia #630432.
