Georgia Probate Legal Questions

Is anyone else's name on deed at all? If so, that will have a bearing.  Did she leave a Transfer on Death Deed?  Did she have a Will? If so, who does it say the house goes to? If she did not have a Will and was married to stepfather at the time of her death, stepfather and her children inherit the house by instestacy.  Also, assuming they were married at the time of her death, stepfather would likely have a right to claim Year's Support, but the effect of doing so may differ depending on whether your mother left a Will and whether the Will addresses him claiming Year's Support. More of the details asked above would help clarify.  Also, your question says "we" don't know what our options are, but the answer will vary depending on who "we" is and what you mean... your options to do what?  Sell it? Buy it? Charge rent to stepfather? Just want to know what interest you may have in the house?  A probate lawyer could certainly help you understand exactly where you stand with your rights to the property in relation to the stepfather and your siblings, but some more details will be needed to be specific.  I wish you the best!    ... Read Answer

If there are no unpaid debts and all heirs will sign off to acknowledge unanimous agreement on the distribution of all assets, you should be able to file a Petition for Order Declaring No Administration Necessary.  It is form 9 here: https://www.gasupreme.us/probate-court-standard-forms/    ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the passing of your husband. Unfortunately, in order to obtain help accessing his bank account, as well as dealing with any other issues that may need to be addressed as the result of his death, you will need to make direct contact with an attorney who works on probate matters. This forum does not allow attorneys to actually assist you, as it is not possible to gather the needed information and give actual advice. You need to find an attorney who handles probate matters, using the resources on this website, and contact that attorney's office to schedule a probate consultation. The only other option, depending on the county your husband lived in at his death, is that you may be able to get some assistance through a probate court clinic program. For example, both Fulton and DeKalb Counties offer a free, very short, consultation with a volunteer probate attorney (I believe the program is called the "Probate Information Center" in Fulton and the "Probate Information Clinic" in DeKalb, or something like that). You have to contact the court to make an appointment to get help through those programs, and they are not intended to provide comprehensive help, but they are designed to help people who don't have an attorney carry out discrete tasks and if the volunteer determines that ongoing assistance from an attorney is really needed, they will tell you. Best wishes to you.  ... Read Answer

An attorney licensed to practice in Georgia can practice anywhere in Georgia, yes. That said, for estate planning, the attorney will usually want to meet with your mother in person to have her sign her new documents, even if not also for the planning part of the engagement, and if your mother has to drive from Columbus to Atlanta to meet with her attorney she may not be happy. Also, if you think you would want to use the same attorney for help with an eventual probate, then having an attorney closer to Columbus might be helpful, as not all Atlanta attorneys will take on probate matters anywhere in the state. There are good estate planning attorneys in and around the Columbus area. Your mother may be better off using one of them. Best wishes to both of you.... Read Answer

Yes, you are entitled to file a petition to probate the intestate estate of your father. Just because his surviving wife was awarded year's support does not automatically entitled you to receive any assets he left, especially if you and your siblings are not in agreement about his assets. File the petition in the county where he lived/owned property at the time of his death. Hope this helps! Good luck to you!... Read Answer

You need to open your father's estate for probate (if he had a Will) or administration (if he did not have a Will). Your statement that there was no need to probate after his death is apparently incorrect, as there was a Fidelity account that he owned and that had no beneficiary designation on it. That account became part of his probate estate at his death, and without a probate or an estate administration that account stayed in his estate. If you are the sole heir, and if there were no creditors at his death (or if all of any such creditors have been fully paid before now), and if he had no Will, then you might also be able to do a Petition for No Administration Necessary, instead of a full administration. But you may not be able to get the needed information for that Petition without an estate representative who is able to get that information from the Georgia Treasury Department. Hire an experienced probate attorney to help you with this. Best wishes to you.  ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. If your mother survived your father, it's her house now, if you're correct in that the two of them owned the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship before your father's death. However, since you are asking this question, I will assume your mother died before your father, leaving your father (presumably) as the sole owner of the home and making the home now part of his probate estate. Someone needs to get appointed as the Executor or Administrator of the estate (depending on whether or not your father had a Will). The Executor or Administrator can then take steps to evict the girlfriend. That's how you get her out of the house. However, note that this assumes your father did not add the girlfriend to the title to the home before his death, and it also assumes that your father did not make a Will or a revocable trust that provides for her to receive the house (or the right to live in the house). And, if he did make a trust and transferred the house to it during his lifetime, then the Executor/Administrator of his estate may have no control over the house- the Trustee of the trust would be the one who has that control. So the real first step is to try to make sure that you know exactly how the house was owed as of the date of your father's death, along with any other assets he owned, and whether he had any estate planning documents in place and if so, what those documents say. My recommended next step would be to hire an experienced probate attorney to help you figure out the actual situation and what the next steps can and should be. Best wishes to you.      ... Read Answer

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your mother. As for your question, the Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form is generally the petition that should be filed when a Will is offered for probate. It becomes binding more quickly on heirs or other interested parties, which is good for a number of reasons, and most probate courts prefer that you use it. I do urge you to get an experienced probate attorney to help you with the Petition and with other aspects of probate, however. While you can handle probate without an attorney in Georgia, that doesn't mean it's a good idea. There are a number of traps that you can fall into and issues you might encounter that could have been avoided, and having an experienced attorney help guide you can be very valuable in helping save you both time and money. Best wishes to you.  ... Read Answer

If there is no will, then there is not an executor. A court would appoint an administrator in this case. An administrator is charged with following intestate law in this case.  See a local attorney. You should likely inherit something. Something like 1/10 if there are 10 children. Less if father was married when he died.... Read Answer

You need to be appointed as the administrator of your father's estate by the probate court. You can file disclaimers of the other heirs into the case and then deed the property to yourself as administrator.  You should consult with an attorney to make sure that this is done properly. The time an money you save by doing it properly will be your own. ... Read Answer