Georgia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Generally speaking, an arrest for shoplifting (if the only offense) is not an offense that would make an individual inadmissible to the United States. However, if coming in as a visitor, your friend should apply for a visa at the American consulate or embassy, disclose the offense, and hope that the consular officer will issue the visa. I note that visiting visas are given in the discretion of the consular officer. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

The fact that you paid for the property actually doesn't really have any bearing on ownership. If you paid for a property that was partially owned by another person, you made gifts to that person each time you made a payment that benefitted them. You don't provide one critical fact: How did you and your mother hold title to the property? If the deed clearly states that you held it as joint tenants or with rights of survivorship, then you are likely correct, and you are likely now the sole owner of the property. However, if you and your mother were both listed on the deed as owners, but the deed did not specifically and clearly create a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship between the two of you, then, assuming it is a Georgia property, your mother's interest became part of her probate estate at her death and passed either under her Will (if she had one) or under the Georgia intestacy rules if she didn't have a Will. In either case, your sister may actually own an interest in the house, because she may have received a share of your mother's interest. You should ideally sit down with an attorney and figure out what exactly happened. The attorney will need to look at the deed (which is not the Security deed, but is generally a Warranty Deed, Limited Warranty Deed, or Quit Claim Deed) for the property to see how it was titled. Depending on what that says, you may then need to have the attorney help you figure out what happened when your mother passed away. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Please check out my firm's website: www.morgandisalvo.com We have posted a large number of articles, many of which discuss the difference between a Will and a trust, the reasons that you might want to use a revocable trust vs. a Will, and other issues that relate to your question. If you want detailed advice on whether you should consider doing any kind of trust, revocable or irrevocable, or whether you will be okay just using a Will that will create trusts for your children if you die while they are still young, then you really need to schedule an estate planning consultation with an estate planning attorney. Best wishes to you.... Read More

A trust is controlled by the terms of the document that creates it; there's no such thing as a standard trust that is spelled out in the law. What that means is that no one can tell you what kinds of distributions are permitted from your child's trust without actually seeing the trust document. In general, it would be fairly common for a trust for a person to allow for something like the purchase of a car for that person; but that does not mean that your child's trust permits that kind of distribution. Find an attorney who is experienced with trusts and have that attorney review the document that controls the trust. That's going to be the only way you can actually know what it allows. Best wishes to you and your child.... Read More

Sounds like your case definitely needs to be looked at by the right person.  You would need to file an appeal to get those things corrected. You should reach out to an attorney to review the case and see what can be done.  An attorney will want to see a copy of the decision to understand the VA's argument for why they decided what they did.  Feel free to reach out to us at www.veteranslaw.com or consults@veterans.com ... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your husband. If you have opened a probate estate for your husband, the check should be deposited into the estate's account. You can't just put it into your own account. However, if there is no estate open, if your husband didn't have a Will, if there aren't really any other assets in his estate of any siginificance, and if you don't need to open the estate, you may be able to have the bank that issued the check cash it for you, using a specific statute under Georgia law. If he had other assets in the estate, then you may need to open the estate, in which case you would use the estate's account, or you may be able to make a claim for year's support instead of opening the estate. If he had a Will, however, then you may have to either probate it or make a year's support petition to cash that check. There are a lot of potential options. Unfortunately, no one in this kind of forum can really tell you exactly which ones are going to be the best ones for you, because there's too much additional information that is needed to tell. Consult an attorney, or contact the probate court if you can't afford an attorney, and see if there is a probate information clinic available where someone can help you. Best wishes to you.... Read More

You are correct.  No one can give away something they do not have.  There is no reason for you to sign away your interest in the house.  If your sister wants to sell the house and you do not, your sister must first file a suit for partition.  You may want to buy her interest.  You may prefer to let her force a sale and take your share of the proceeds.... Read More

To avoid probate, which is truly not cumbersome or expensive in Georgia, you need to have all assets titled in joint name, or have beneficiaries identified for the assets, or you need to establish a revocable living trust. Not a living will. Most good estate planning lawyers can assist you with establishing a revocable trust.... Read More

Strongly suggest that you have him apply for disability benefits as soon as possible.  The process can be time consuming and it is highly encoruaged that you find your self a reputable Disability Advocate to assist in the process. Best of luck to you and your husband. Attorney Scott Bocchio Legal Rights Advocates P 855-254-7841 www.yourlegalrightsadvocates.com          ... Read More

The simple answer is that the will may give you powers more fully set forth in OCGA 53-12-262. If so, you ahve the power to sell without consent of the beneifficaires; b ut you must sell at a fair price.  When confronted with a situatoin as you describe, I woudl offer to sell the hosue to the heirs wanting to maintian it so that the remaining members of hte family can get their inheritance without delay.  Typically, you could get a market appraisal by a real estate agent.  From there, you coudl knock of 10% for the house not being sold with a commission due, and sell the house to the hiers  who want to maintian it for sentimental reasons.  I'm not sure what this sentiment is going to feel like when taxes are due, repairs are needed and the new owners pass away and their chidlren need to figure out what to do.  If they really want to keep the house, I assume it will be rented out, or sold to only one heir whod elects to make that home his/her home.  Once rented out, it quits looking like Mom and Dad's house.  Once owned by one heir, it quits being Mom and Dad's home also.   It is a tough situation to be in, but your job is to get everybody thier inheritance.  You usually can't do that withotu selling the real estate.... Read More

I am sorry your mother passed away.  However, if she owned anything you will need probate her will.  You are required to file the will with the probate court in the county your mother lived in regardless of whether you file it for probate. You should retain an attorney experienced in assisting with estates to help you.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question, you may well have to offer your mother's Will for probate, but without knowing what she owned and how she owned it, it is not possible for anyone to actually tell you whether you need to do so or what else you need to do. The reason for that is as follows: When a person dies, there are three basic possibilities as to how what she owns transfers to others. 1. If your mother owned anything with another person as joint tenants with rights of survivorship (which is the default form of ownership for joint accounts in Georgia but NOT the default form of ownership for jointly owned real estate), then the surviving owner already owns 100% of those assets, any may not need to do anything (other than make sure her name and Social Security number are no longer showing on any accounts). 2. If she owned anything like life insurance, an IRA, or certain other accounts under a beneficiary designation, which includes a payable on death (POD) designation or a transfer on death (TOD) registration, then the beneficiary needs to contact the insurance provider or institution that holds the account or the security and find out what paperwork needs to be provided for the beneficiary to collect the assets. 3. If she owned anything that was not subject to a right of survivorship or a beneficary designation, then those assets must be controlled by her Will, and you will need to have the Will admitted to probate and thereby made legally binding in order to receive those assets. You may also need to file final income tax returns or other returns for her, and to pay bills and expenses out of the estate's assets. Find a probate attorney and schedule a consultation. The attorney can help you figure out what you need to do and how to proceed.   Best wishes to you.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on your mother's terrible situation.   As for your question, the advance directive, if it is newer, should probably be what you look to as evidence of her wishes regarding burial versus cremation. If the Will is newer than the advance directive, then you should probably look to the statement in the Will. Ideally, ask her what she prefers now, if she can answer the question for you.... Read More

To answer your specific question: to add a new owner to a deed, the existing owner has to execute a new deed that transfers the property to himself and the new owner, either as tenants in common (which will NOT cause the property to transfer automatically to the surviving owner if one owner dies) or joint tenants with rights of survivorship (which WILL cause the property to transfer automatically to the surviving owner if one owner dies). After the new deed is signed by the existing owner, witnessed, and notarized, it has to be recorded with the Superior Court for the county where the property is located. To mention some additional and very important things: Ideally, you should NOT use a quit claim deed to make this transfer; instead, a Limited Warranty or Warranty Deed is likely better. A quit claim deed may cause you to lose the benefit of title insurance you might have purchased. And please note: preparing a deed is NOT a good do-it-yourself project. Any mistakes can cause the transfer to go wrong, which can lead to you having title problems that could make it difficult or nearly impossible for you to sell the property or refinance it in the future. Get a real estate attorney to prepare the proper deed. And please consider consulting an estate planning attorney to make sure that adding your wife to the deed is actually what you want to do. You will be making a gift to her when you do so, and you will not be able to simply take the property back. And if you do decide to proceed with the change, the decision regarding whether you and she will own the property as joint tenants or as tenants in common is a potentially big one. There are benefits and negatives to both forms. Best wishes to you.... Read More

I assume that you are not talking about your child’s passport, but a visa to come to the United States. It is certainly true that it is more difficult for individuals to obtain visiting visas when they have had an immigrant visa petition filed on their behalf. It would probably be a better idea to have her apply for and obtain a visiting visa before taking any actions towards her immigration.  Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More