Georgia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

It all depends on whether the deed is a tenants in common deed or a joint tenants with rights of survivorship deed. If it is a joint tenants with rights of survivorship, you need to do nothing.  If it is any other kind of deed, some action in probate court will be required.  It might be as simple as a Petition for Year's Support or a Petition to Appoint Permanent Administrator.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your wife.   You should consult an attorney who works with probate and estate planning matters. You may not need to do anything to take your wife's name off of your property, but no one can tell you whether or not you will need to without looking at the actual deed. If the deed was written one way, you and she owned it as joint tenants with rights of survivorship and it automatically became yours when she died. If the deed was written a different way, then your wife's interest in the property is now in her probate estate, and you have different options for how to proceed with the estate, but you will need to do something.   As for putting your daughter's name on your property, you should get good estate planning advice before doing any such thing. The general rule is that you should NEVER, never, never, never add a child's name to your home. Never. Never. It creates both gift and income tax issues, it exposes your home to your daughter's potential problems, and it may prevent you from being able to access needed benefits for your own long term care someday. That said, if, after a consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney, you really still want to do it, you will need to get a deed drawn up. You should not try to do that yourself- doing a deed yourself is the easiest way to make sure that you can't sell or borrow against the property in the future because you've messed up the title.   Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

Your father placed great responsibility on your brother and entrusted him with a serious job.  The court will struggle to not appoint him after your father went to the trouble to nominate him as executor.  I have witnessed many good peopel waste thousands of dollars trying to stop an appointed executor from being appointed.  Unless your brother is in jail, or has been in jail for some kind of dishonesty issues, the court will likely appoint him.  You are better served hiring competent counsel to monitor your brother and at the first sign of anything improper file to have him removed.    ... Read More

  From our experience, USCIS will usually hold back ancillary applications like employment authorization where it issues a request for initial evidence in an adjustment of status case. I note that USCIS is very long on adjudicating EAD applications based upon marriage and was just sued by persons in your situation who complained that they had all been waiting 7-13 months without an adjudication. If you answer the request for evidence, your EAD application will likely not suffer any time lost given the extensive “normal” processing times of USCIS. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

Unfortunately, this kind of forum does not allow anyone to effectively answer a specific question like yours. You have posted a lot of information, but in a complex situation it's generally necessary for an attorney to probe to make sure that ALL of the potentially relevant facts are discovered before giving any legaly advice.   Here's an example of what I'm talking about: It sounds like your father's estate was never fully administered, since you say that his name is still on the deed to the property. One question, then is what DID get done with his estate, if anything. If he left property to stepchildren under his Will, but that Will was never admitted to probate, then it could actually be too late for that to happen now, since he died in 1987. If the Will was admitted to probate but the Executor never made the appropriate transfer out of the estate, then the stepkids may have actually received rights when the Will was admitted to probate, and thereby made legally effective, but it may still be necessary for the estate to be reopened in order for someone to property transfer the property. I can't tell from the information that you posted whether the Will was probated or not, and so I can't actually tell whether the stepchildren actually inherited anything.   If the stepchildren DID effectively receive rights to the property because your dad's Will was probated, then so did you and your brother Joel. If Joel had an interest in that parcel under the Will, then his interest would have passed either under his Will (if he had one, and if it was probated), or to your mother, as his only heir (based on the facts as you state them) if he had no Will at his death. BUT, if your father's Will was never actually offered for probate, then it may be that you and your mother and brother received ALL of his property and that it did not actually pass the way he wanted it to go.   What I would suggest is for your family to consult a real estate attorney to have the attorney help your family figure out how the properties in question are currently owned, and to help the family get any needed paperwork done to clean up the title. You likely also need to probate your mother's estate, so you should also have an attorney who can help with that- you may be able to find an attorney or firm that can handle both the probate issues and the real estate issues.   Best wishes to you, and please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.   As for your question, if your mother has a court order or divorce decree that says the land was to have been transferred to her, but the land never was transferred to her, then she is effectively a creditor of your father's estate. You (or someone else) will likely need to get appointed as the Executor or Administrator of your father's estate, get the estate administration started, and, assuming that the land does not need to be liquidated in order to pay creditors that have higher-priority claims than your mother's claim (she would be an unsecured creditor with a lower priority than certain other creditors), eventually turn the property over to your mother in satisfaction of her creditor claim. The rest of the estate, if there is any, can then be distributed to the beneficiaries or heirs.   Get the help of an experienced probate attorney if you want to take on the estate administration. It's not a good do-it-yourself project. Best wishes to you and your family.  ... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.   In preparing an estate tax return (IRS Form 706), all assets in which your father owned an interest at the time of his death would generally be listed on the return. If the trusts were created under the terms of his Will using assets he owned in accounts at his death, then you don't really list the trusts on the estate tax return (except as beneficiaries), but you would normally include the assets he owned at his death that go into the trusts as part of his gross estate. I can't tell you whether the trusts you actually have should be listed on an estate tax return or not, though, because there are a lot of factors that would go into that determination and I don't have access to all of that information here.   Your post also raises a larger issue that I want to address: You do not file an IRS Form 706 to "close out" an estate; at least not in the typical sense of "closing out" an estate. If an IRS Form 706 is required (and from your post I cannot tell you whether an IRS Form 706 was required for your father's estate or not), then filing it and waiting for it to be accepted and a closing letter issued, or for 3 years to pass since it was filed, is part of the estate administration but it is far from the last thing you would do. The last tax return typically filed before an estate is closed out (after the administration has mostly been completed) is an INCOME tax return (IRS Form 1041), NOT an estate tax return. It could be that I'm just not understanding exactly what you have done and are trying to do now, and of course I have nowhere near enough information about the estate to know what you should have or may already have done, but it sounds like you might be trying to do the wrong thing.   If you do not have a probate attorney helping you with your father's estate, please consult one as soon as possible before you file any estate tax return on IRS Form 706. You may be wasting time and money filing something you don't need to file, and you may be overlooking steps that you should be taking. This kind of forum is not designed for anyone to be able to tell you what you should actually do in any given legal situation- that requires a lot more information than can or should be discussed in a public forum like this one.   Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

I'm not exactly clear on what your question is, but it appears to relate to how you could step in as successor trustee of the trust. Unfortunately, there's no way to answer that question without a lot more information that can be provided in this kind of forum.   The first place to start when figuring out who becomes successor trustee of a trust when a serving trustee stops serving is the document that actually creates and contains the terms of the trust, plus any later documents that might have affected the trust's terms. Since the attorneys are trying to find your grandfather's Will, I assume that the Will is what created the trust. If that Will was filed for probate (in NY or elsewhere), then the probate court should be able to provide a copy, although if it was filed in 1972 it can take a while for them to pull up that record, so hopefully it will eventually turn up. If the Will was not filed for probate, then it may be that a separate document created the trust- in that case, you'd need to get a copy of that document (hopefully your father had one). If the trust was created in part by state law, however, you'll need to see what the applicable law said.   If whatever document controls the trust does not provide for a successor Trustee and does not address the question of how to select one if one is not named, then you will need to look to applicable state law (which may actually be NY law if the trust was created by a NY Will, even if the trustee and beneficiaries are all in GA and the trust was being managed here), and figure out how to make it happen. A court petition may be required, and you'll need to figure out what is required for that petition to be filed and granted.   If there are already attorneys involved (it sounds like there are), then you should let them figure things out. If at some point it looks like they aren't figuring it out, then you can hire a different attorney. I recommend hiring an attorney who works with fiduciary litigation as well as general trust and estate administration- that kind of attorney is most likely to have the experience and knowledge needed to help you figure out what needs to happen and get it done.   Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. As for your question, 4 years can be a long time to hold an estate, but it may actually be a fairly reasonable amount of time. Whether it's reasonable or not depends a lot on what assets became part of the estate and whether an estate tax return was filed. If an estate tax return is filed, it can take up to 3 years after the filing, and the filling itself can take1 1/2 years after the death even if the return is filed on time. Without knowing a lot more about the situation, I can't say whether 4 years is reasonable in your father's estate, but it's certainly not impossible for it to take 4 or more years to wrap up and estate.   As for your question about getting information: An attorney for the executor, in Georgia at least, is not the attorney for the beneficiaries. If the attorney communicates with a beneficiary of the estate, the attorney generally is required to either (1) speak with the beneficiary's attorney, if the beneficiary has one, or (2) only provide the beneficiary with very limited information, being careful not to provide legal advice. You may have better luck asking the Executor directly- the Executor is not as restrained as the attorney is. However, if you feel that information is being withheld from you unreasonably, it certainly does not hurt for you to go ahead and hire an attorney to represent you. If you do, your attorney should be able to request information from the Executor's attorney and get it. Please also note, however, in some cases, the underlying Will may attempt to limit the information that beneficiaries can receive at all. In that kind of situation, the beneficiaries may not even be entitled to receive much information. Without knowing a lot more about the situation and the underlying documents, I could not tell you whether that is a factor in your father's estate, but it's possible.  ... Read More

Assuming that you have already asked for a copy of the trust and information about it, and been denied appropriate information, then you need to hire an attorney who works on fiduciary litigation. The attorney will likely need to send a demand letter to the Trustee of the trust. If that does not result in appropriate action by the Trustee, then your attorney may need to sue the Trustee for an accounting and for a copy of the trust.  ... Read More

Your mother needs to hire an attorney. Unfortunately, there's really nothing I can tell you in this kind of forum that will give her any help. If your father was actually left an interest in the property, and if his interest was left to your mother at his death, then she likely has a right to a share of the sales proceeds. But that may not actually be what happened. There's no way to know what actually happened and whether your father actually received an interest that he was able to pass to your mother at his death without seeing the underlying documents. Your mother needs to consiult an attorney who is experienced in working with estates, including contested estates, as soon as possible. She shouldn't keep waiting. Best wishes to you and your mother.  ... Read More

Probably the better thing for you to do is to allow your H-1B status to expire if there will be a gap between your resignation and the time that you file for permanent residence under your marriage case. Expiration of status is not a bar to adjustment of status in your circumstances. In addition, a change of status application to B-1 or B-2 involves an assertion that you will be leaving the country at the end of the temporary period of stay. Such an application is not to be a stopgap to your morphing into permanent residence. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

Unfortunately, without being able to actually see the document that created the fund in question, it's not possible for anyone to be able to tell you whether the trustee has the right to withhold distributions. Too much depends on exactly how the fund is set up and what the controlling terms are. For example, if the money was really just a Georgia Uniform Gifts to Minors (or Uniform Trusts for Minors) custodial account that your son's grandfather set up with your son's father as the custodian, then your son's father may effectively have the right to control whether your son can receive or use the funds until your son turns 21. If the money was put into a Section 529 Plan account for your son's benefit, with his father as the owner of the account, then he may also have the right to determine whether a distribution comes out of the account no matter how old your son is. But, if the money was set up in a trust created by the grandfather during his lifetime or under his Will, then the terms of the Will or trust document may (or may not) give your son more rights to force his father, as Trustee, to make a distribution even if the father does not agree with his choice of school.   Your son can consult an attorney. The attorney can help him demand more information from his father about exactly how the fund is set up, figure out what rights he may have, and, if needed and possible, work to try to get the father to make the distribution or resign so that another trustee can step in. But in this kind of forum, it will not be possible for anyone to be able to tell him what his options are. (Please also note: if your son is 18, you likely can't sue the trustee for him- he will need to do it himself. However, you can certainly help him with finding and working with an attorney.)   Best wishes to you and your son.  ... Read More

If I understand your post correctly, you currently own a home subject to a mortgage, and you want to sell the property to a potential purchaser for more than you owe on it. Assuming all that is correct, I would strongly advise you to consult a real estate attorney for help with the sale and the transfer. In most cases, the purchaser of the property will want to receive ti under a Warranty Deed or Limited Warranty Deed, not a Quit Claim Deed, because the purchaser will be better protected under those kinds of deeds than under a quit claim deed. The purchaser will also want to make sure that the mortgage gets paid off properly and that the lender issues an appropriate release of their security interest. The purchaser may also want to get title insurance on the property. A real estate attorney can help with all of those issues. Please DON'T try to do anything yourself, however- mistakes in real estate transactions can be very expensive to fix and can make it impossible for someone to sell or borrow against the property in the future.  ... Read More

To give the short answer to your question: No, you can't sell the whole property as is- all you can sell is what you own, which it sounds like may be a fairly small interest. You do need to get the title cleared up, and then all of the current owners of the property will need to join in the sale to transfer the entire property. There's no possible way for anyone to be able to tell you in this kind of forum what that will cost or how long it will take, unfortunately.   The title search results will likely be helpful, along with the death certificates. If there was ever any administration of any estates connected with the property, that documentation would be helpful, and if you can get death certificates and lists of possible heirs for each currently deceased person who likely inherited an interest in the property, that will likely also help.    A real estate or probate attorney who works with Heirs Property may be able to help you and your family sort this out. You may also want to contact the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center- they are a group that works on exactly these kinds of issues. Here is their website: https://www.gaheirsproperty.org/   Best wishes to you. I hope you and your family are able to get this worked out without too much trouble and get a good result.  ... Read More

Generally speaking, you need to open an estate in the name of the deceased person and have someone appointed administrator.  The administrator can then execute an Administrator's Deed giving the property to the heirs. If the people who paid off the house are not the heirs, they will need to file a claim against the house for the money paid towards the mortgage.  ... Read More

I'm sorry, but I can't tell from your post what your question is. I do want to point out a couple of things, however, in hope that the information helps you some. But if none of this answers your question, you will need to post another one with more information.   A "Living Will" does not transfer property. It's a document that says what kinds of medical treatments or other life-support measures one wants if one is incapacitated and either terminally ill or in a permanent coma or vegetative state.   I assume you mean that your mother had a Will (or a "Last Will and Testament". She may also have had a revocable trust, which is often called a "Living Trust." If your mother moved from Georgia to Florida, then ideally she would have updated her estate planning, including any Will, revocable trust, Power of Attorney, Advance Directive for Health Care, or Living Will documents. That's because what works in Georgia is not exactly the same as what works in Florida, and so if you change states, you ideally should eventually update your documents to reflect the laws in the new state and not your former state. However, your stepfather would not normally have any legal power to change your mother's Will- if you believe that he actually did forge a Will, or if he essentially forced her to change her Will (or other estate planning documents), then you may be able to challenge the document in question. Since she was in Florida, you will need to speak with a Florida attorney about what rights and options you might have.   As for the part about your grandmother's house: if your mother owned that house in her own name, and if it was not subject to any kind of legal restrictions imposed by your grandmother's estate planning documents or the deed, then most likely your mother (or someone acting on her behalf) had the legal right to sell it, even if you were expecting to receive it someday. If you believe that there WAS some kind of trust or deed-based restriction on the property, however, then you'll need to actually talk to an attorney about how the property was owned before the sale. The attorney can then investigate your claims and tell you if you have any rights and how to go about pursuing them if you do.   Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question, without more information it's not really possible to know exactly how your name and your sister's name got on the deed to your mother's house, but I will make some assumptions. If my assumptions are not correct, this answer will not be correct either. And, even if it is, you shouldn't rely on it- if you really want to know what rights your father might have versus the rights you and your sister might have, you'll need to actually consult an attorney. This is not a forum that allows for actual consultations. What I assume is this: Your mother died without a Will. She and your father owned the home as tenants in common, which means both of their names were on the deed but the deed did not contain the words needed to create a right of survivorship between them. So, when she died, her 1/2 of the house became part of her probate estate. Your father, you, and your sister were your mother's heirs. Your father either failed to file a claim for a year's support from her estate and ask that her interest in the house be awarded to him or he filed that claim but for some reason her interest in the house was not granted to him. For that reason, under Georgia intestacy law, her 1/2 of the property passed 1/3 to you, 1/3 to your sister, and 1/3 to your father. IF all of those assumptions are correct, then your father likely can't sue you now. UNLESS your mother died less than 2 years ago, the estate was not previously fully administered, and he's realized that he can still make the year's support claim and get her entire interest in the house that way. In which case, he CAN still make that claim for year's support and take the interests in the house away from you and your sister. You REALLY need to get a consultation with an attorney. It's really the only way for anyone to be able to understand exaclty what's going on and what rights and options you may have. Call an experienced probate attorney as soon as you can and get a consultation. Best wishes to you.    ... Read More

I handle malpractice cases in Georgia and Florida.  Georgia used to have statute that placed caps on the amount a jury could award as damages in a medical malpractice case.  However, several years ago the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the one-size-fits-all damage cap violated the Georgia Constitution.  An appeallate Court may still conclude that any particular verdict is so high that it shocks the conscience and should be reduced, but it is on a case-by-case basis and there is no set cap on any case. Many other State Supreme Courts have reached the same conclusion as to their State malpractice caps, including Florida.  If you are a healthcare provider seeking medical malpractice liability insurance, you should probably seek the advice one or two medical malpractice insurance companies in your state as to the amounts most healthcare providers in your particular medical speciality usually carry, and why.  Best of luck to you,   Scott R. McMillen... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your husband. As for your posts, in Georgia a married person is free to leave assets to whomever he wishes, for the most part. As a surviving spouse, you have the right to make a claim for a "year's support" from your husband's probate estate, but otherwise if he left a valid Will, then the Will will control. It sounds as if his intent was to leave property to a trust for your benefit, rather than leaving it to you outright. That kind of planning is often done in order to allow a spouse to benefit from property but to also ensure that any remaining property at the spouse's later death will go to the deceased person's other intended beneficiaries, such as a child from a prior marriage. So, it's entirely possible that your husband did not intend to leave you property outright. Unfortunately, without actually seeing your husband's Will, no one will be able to tell you exactly what it says or how it is intended to operate. You need to contact an attorney and have them review the Will. You may be able to challenge it, if you think it is not valid or not validly execute it. You may also be able to make a claim for a year's support and get access to assets that way. However, you should not delay- you only have a fairly short period of time to act if you want to make a year's support claim or try to challenge the Will. Best wishes to you.    ... Read More

I'm not sure why you would think that your former employer could not send you a letter asserting a claim for stolen property, but it can.  Obviously this doesn't mean that it will follow through on suing you, or that it will succeed if it does, but there's nothing wrong with the letter.... Read More