Georgia Probate Legal Questions

Until your sister has actually offered your father's Will for probate and been formally appointed as the Executor of his estate by the appropriate probate court, she isn't the Executor of anything. First step, then, is to make sure whether that's already happened. Assuming that your father lived in Georgia at the time of his death, you, as one of his heirs, should have received notice that his Will was being offerered for probate and been given a chance to object. If the Will has been admitted to probate and your sister had the Letters Testamentary appointing her as the Executor, then she can take steps to evict you from the house. However, you have rights as a tenant if you were living there prior to your father's death and have not moved out. You need to find an attorney who can help you understand your rights as a tenant (these are separate from your rights as an heir and a beneficiary under the Will) to ensure that you are protected. You may have to move, but your sister shouldn't just be able to change the locks and dump you out of the house without some process. You may also want to hire an experienced probate attorney to help you understand your rights as a beneficiary under the Will. If your sister does not carry out her job correctly, your rights and interests could be damaged. You are entitled to hire someone to help you protect yourself. Best wishes to you and my condolences on the loss of your father.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father and the frustration that your sister appears to be causing you. If your sister has not offered the Will for probate, you will likely need to file a request to have the probate court compel her to produce the Will so that you can offer it for probate yourself. You may also need to request that you be appointed as the Administrator with Will Annexed, if your sister is the appointed Executor but refuses to take on the job. If your sister has actually had the Will admitted to probate but is refusing to follow it, then you will likely need to file a request to have the probate court make her provide an accounting and explain why the estate administration has not been completed properly. You may also need to try to have the probate court remove and replace her as the Executor altogether. Both of these options involve possible litigation. Find an attorney who is experienced with probate and estate litigation, get a consultation, and have the attorney review the situation and advise you on your next best options. Best wishes to you.... Read More

There is no set cost to have an attorney review a Will. The cost will depend on a lot of factors, including, possibly, the attorney's normal hourly rate, how she decides to charge for the service provided, and the length of the document being reviewed. When I review a Will, I charge by the hour at my normal hourly rate. Depending on how long it takes me to review the Will, the fee can be anywhere from less than $460 to well over $1,000. If you had the attorney review your mother's Will and the attorney just told you to pay her whatever you wanted to give her, and you aren't comfortable without more guidance, just ask the attorney herself to give you a number she believes is reasonable.... Read More

If your half sister was the administrator, and not an executor, then your father likely didn't have a Will. If not, if he was not married at his death, and if you and your half sister are the only two children (either living or deceased), then you'd generally be entitled to 1/2 of the probate estate after debts, expenses, and taxes are paid. That assumes that there WAS any probate estate (assets that are owned by a deceased person and a surviving person as "joint tenants" and assets that are paid directly to a beneficiary OTHER than the estate under a beneficiary designation do NOT become part of the probate estate), and that the debts, expenses, and taxes didn't take all of the probate estate assets.  However, if you were an heir (or if your father had a Will and you were a beneficiary), then you are entitled to information. You've tried to get information from your sister directly, and from your father's attorney (which makes no sense; your father does not have an attorney after he's deceased- your sister, as the administrator, would be the one who would normally have an attorney), and you haven't been able to get it. Your next steps are basically (1) contact the probate court of the county where your father lived at his death, and ask for a copy of the entire probate file, and (2) once you have the file, hire your own attorney to help you review it and figure out your next steps. If resources are a problem, which based on your post I assume they may be, then you may be able to get some free or low-cost attorney help through a volunteer attorney program (Fulton and DeKalb County Probate Courts each run a program with volunteer probate attorneys for probate-related issues- you can find out more from the courts, and other Georgia courts may have something similar). You may also be able to find an attorney who is willing to take the case if it looks like there may be assets to recover, although most probate attorneys don't do contingency work. You should look for an attorney with a lot of probate experience, preferably including litigation experience. Best wishes to you.... Read More

This is not a Wills and Probate question, and I do not practice in the criminal law area. Whether or not you decide to call the police, I strongly advise you to find a trusted adult, such as a counselor at your school, who you can talk to about this and who can help you get whatever help you may need beyond legal help. If you feel like you were forced into having sex, then you have the right to contact the police and report the incident, even if you didn't say anything at the time of the incident. Neither your mother nor his has the right to prevent you from seeking to have the police investigate. And no one has the right to force you into having sex that you don't want to have.... Read More

I am sorry to hear that your uncle appears to be violating his duties as the trustee of your trust. Unfortunately, however, unless you actually hire an attorney to demand that he provide you with an accounting of the trust and information about it, he will likely continue to stonewall you. Your options are essentially: (1) send him a demand letter asking for information about the trust and an accounting. (2) If he fails to provide you with information, try to have him removed as the trustee for breach of his fiduciary duties. Both actions, especially the second one, really require you to hire an attorney. Find one with estate and trust litigation or dispute resolution experience. You will need to pay up front, but you may be able to have the trust reimburse you if you are successful in having your uncle removed as a trustee. Keep in mind, however, that it is possible that you have been misinformed, and that there is actually no trust. Unfortunately, sometimes a plan that was intended to create a trust ends up not doing so because there ended up being no assets. This possibility shouldn't stop you from trying to get information if you believe there really is or should be a trust. But it is one to keep in mind, especially if your uncle has been denying that a trust exists at all. He may be telling the truth. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Trying to find a Will if the deceased person didn't leave clear instructions about where the original Will is kept can be difficult or impossible, and it may be that there is no Will at all. To try to find a Will, it's generally best to search the home and any office that the person kept. If there is a safe or safety deposit box, that should also be checked out. Also look through any contact information that the person had on file. If you don't find a Will or a copy of a Will, you mat at least find an attorney or law firm's name and contact info. If so, you can contact the attorney or firm and ask whether they ever worked with the decedent to prepare a Will. You can also contact the probate court for the county where the deceased person lived at the date of death, and any other counties the person may have lived in before death. If you contact a probate court, you need to specifically ask to see if the deceased person ever filed a Will "for safekeeping" with the probate court. If you don't ask whether a Will was filed for safekeeping, you may not get the right answer. If you've searched the home, any offices, any safes, and any safe deposit boxes, contacted any attorneys that you find contact information for in the decedent's possessions, and contacted any probate courts where the decedent may have filed a Will for safekeeping, then you are probably safe in assuming that the decedent, along with the majority of the US population, did not have a Will. Best wishes and a Happy 2018 to you.... Read More

A Will that was executed by you when you lived in Florida will be respected under Georgia law (assuming the Will was valid when you signed it). However, there are a number of differences between Florida and Georgia that make it somewhat more time-consuming and expensive to get a Florida Will admitted to probate in Georgia if you want the Executor to be able to act as freely as possible. Those differences include: (1) Florida does not allow a Will to waive the requirements that an Executor file an inventory and periodic reports with the probate court, so most of the Florida Wills don't even try to waive those requirements, while Georgia allows a Will to waive those requirements; and (2) in order to grant an Executor all of the broadest powers available under state law, so that the Executor does not need to constantly seek court approval in order to take routine administrative steps, Florida (like most states) allows you to simply grant "all powers provided under state law"; while Georgia requires that you cite the actual Georgia statute that grants those powers, which no Florida Will is likely to ever do. If a Will provides for a long, robust list of powers spelled out in the document, then it might be okay, but often simpler Wills don't. If a person with a Florida Will dies, it is generally the case that, during the probate process, we have to not only submit the Will and the probate petition, with consents, to the probate court, but we also have to request that the court waive the inventory and reporting requirements and grant the Executor the broadest powers available under the Georgia statute. This adds about 1 1/2 to 2 months to the process of having the Executor appointed. And, if any heir or beneficiary decides not to agree to the waiver or the grant, then we can't even get the waiver or grant, and the Executor can end up having to file the inventory and reports with the court and seek court approval for routine actions. So, in general, now that you are living in Georgia, it would be ideal if you have your estate planning documents (including the Wills, but also including any power of attorney and health care related documents you may have) updated so that they will work as well as possible under Georgia law. Happy holidays and a very happy new year to you!... Read More

If your mother has passed away, then no, your sister does not have any right to hold the Will. If she won't offer it for probate (which will require her to provide you and your other siblings with copies), then you will need to get a good probate attorney who works with estate and trust litigation (I don't do litigation, by the way) and file a petition with the probate court asking them to compel your sister to produce the Will. Best wishes to you.... Read More

You are being asked to sign the Acknowledgement and Assent because you are your father's heir (the only heir, based on the facts you stated in your answer). Without notifying the heir and either getting your consent to having the Will admitted to probate or having you notified by the court and then having you fail to respond in a timely manner, the Will can't be admitted to probate in solemn form. DO NOT sign the Acknowledgement. In it, you state that you have been provided with a copy of the Will. If you have not been given a copy of the Will, therefore, you can't even actually sign the Acknowledgement. Demand to see a complete copy of the Will before you sign anything. Better yet, find yourself an attorney that has probate and estate litigation experience and have the attorney demand the correct information, including a copy of the Will. Your father's girlfriend may be trying to hide something, or she may just not be getting good advice about how she needs to proceed. But you have rights and an interest in the estate as your father's heir, and you are entitled to protect them. Best wishes to you.    ... Read More

Unless you have opened your sibling's estate by (1) having her Will admitted to probate and you appointed as an Executor, or (2) applying for Letters of Administration and getting appointed as the administrator of her estate, then you have no standing to apply for any taxpayer identification number for her estate (which is actually known as an "employer identification number" or "EIN"). So, if you haven't taken care of that first, don't even try to apply for an EIN for the estate. If you HAVE gotten appointed as the Executor or administrator of the estate, and have your Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, then you can obtain an EIN for the estate online using the following link: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online If you have an attorney helping you with the estate administration (and if you don't, please reconsider that decision and hire a good probate attorney as soon as possible), it may be best if the attorney obtains the EIN for you. If you insist on doing things yourself, please note: There is NO CHARGE for an EIN from the IRS. If you find yourself being asked to pay for the EIN during the online application process, get the heck away from that website immediately. Unfortunately, there are "services" out there that basically have you fill out the EIN application through their filter, and then charge you for the privilege. These are scams. The IRS does not charge you for an EIN. Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

If the sister who is listed on the bank account is listed on the account as a joint owner, then unless you can find clear and convincing evidence that your mother only added her to that account for your mother's convenience (which can be difficult evidence to find if the person on the account isn't willing to admit that she was added only for your mother's convenience), the account, by law, belongs to that sister and she is not required to share it. It does not go through the estate, and it is not controlled by the Will. If your mother had other assets that may have become part of the estate, then the 2 executors who are willing to cooperate can try to have the Will admitted to probate without the 3rd sister. It is not a good do-it-yourself project. The 2 who wish to try having the Will admitted to probate should be prepared for the 3rd sister to put up a fight. They should find attorneys who have experience with contested estates, have the attorneys look at the Will and review the entire situation, and then tell them what their available options are and how the attorneys recommend handling things. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Unfortunately, if your wife has contacted the appropriate court (the court that handled estates for the county where her father lived at the time of his death) and they do not have a copy of his Will, there may not be any Will to locate. Even though her father may have said he made plans, he may not have actually done so. That sort of thing happens all the time. Your wife may want to go back to the court and ask them if there is any probate file at all. If she's asking whether there is a copy of a Will on file, she may not be asking the right question. If her father didn't have a Will, there may have been an estate administration. However, depending on what assets he owned and how they passed at his death, it is also possible that there was no estate administration, and that there may not have needed to be one. If all of his assets other than nontitled tangible personal property and maybe a car passed under either rights of survivorship or beneficiary designations, there may not have been any assets in his probate estate that required an administration. Your wife is certainly free to hire an attorney to try to search further, but unfortunately, after 41 years, if there has never been any evidence of a Will or of any kind of provision for her benefit, it seems most likely that he may have meant to plan, but failed to do so. If that is the case, she will probably just be wasting more time and money hiring someone to try to help with the search. If her siblings really are hiding something, then a letter from an attorney might flush something out, but even if it did and it turned out that something was done incorrectly, the statute of limitations may have long since run. Best wishes to you and your wife, and my condolences to her on the loss of her father and the added distress she has suffered as a result of the whole situation.  ... Read More

You don't post a question, so I can't really provide an answer. However, assuming your question is how I would offer help with the kind of estate planning work you describe (preparing Wills, Powers of Attorney, and other related documents for a married couple), here's how it works: My firm and I offer free estate planning consultations, and there is no obligation to proceed. The purpose of the consultation is to learn about the clients and their goals, needs, and desires, and to put together a proposed plan. After the consultation, and once the plan is developed, we can provide a fee and cost quote and an engagement letter. Most of our estate planning work is done on a fixed fee and cost basis, although very complex matters are sometimes done at an hourly rate plus actual costs. The fees are based on the actual work to be done and cannot be quoted in advance, but if you contact my office and speak to my office administrator she can give you an idea of the range that you might fit into. If you want to know how other attorneys would handle estate planning matters, please use the lawyers.com site to find some other estate planning attorneys and contact their offices directly. That's generally the best way to find out how a given attorney works. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your aunt. I can't tell what your question is from your post. If your aunt made a Will, however, she was free to leave her assets to whomever and in whatever manner she wanted. She did not have to benefit all siblings, nieces, and/or nephews equally. If someone who would have been one of her heirs (the heirs are the people who would have received your aunt's net remaining probate assets if your aunt had no Will, not the beneficiaries of the Will) believes that your aunt may not have been in her right mind at the time she made the Will, or if the heirs believe that someone was exercising undue influence over your aunt so that the Will does not reflect her actual wishes, then they may be able to challenge the Will when it is offered for probate. To find out more about that, or to find out whether a given person is an heir at all (siblings would be, given the facts you state, but nieces and nephews would not be, unless there were one or more predeceased siblings who had surviving descendants), you need to discuss the situation with an actual probate attorney; preferably one with estate dispute resolution experience. This is not the kind of forum that allows an in-depth discussion of actual situations and the relevants facts for those.... Read More

Unfortunately, there's no way to know how much it will cost to have your son's mental health evaluated in advance. If you think that he's at the point where you need to take control of either his finances or his health care, and that you need to seek a conservatorship (finances) or guardianship (health care), you need to find a good elder law attorney (not really a probate attorney, although some attorneys do both kinds of work) and get a consultation. That attorney likely still won't be able to give you a fee estimate, but the attorney can discuss the situation with you and at least give you a better idea of what the prospects for such a case may be. They aren't cheap, however. Diane Weinberg at my firm is an elder law attorney who has a lot of experience with guardianship and conservatorship work. You can contact her though my office. Or use lawyers.com to look for other elder law attorneys. Focus on ones who do guardianships and conservatorship. Best wishes to you and your son. I hope his situation resolves well and soon.... Read More

It doesn't matter who is on the mortgage, except that if your father is the only borrower, the mortgage will likely need to be paid off or refinanced by whoever receives the house. What matters is how the house is owned. If your father is the sole owner of the house, then his Will can leave the house to you. Your mother would have the right to try to make a claim for year's support against the Will, if she and your father are still legally married at his death, but if your father wants to protect against that possibility (I assume that your father is still alive, based on the way you asked the question), there are ways he can do so. He should get an experienced estate planning attorney to help him with the Will. Now, if your mother and father own the house jointly, as "joint tenants" (which mean the deed either specifically says that they own it as joint tenants or at least contains language that makes clear that the surviving owner receives the ownership of all of the house automatically at the first owner's death, then no, your father cannot leave you the house under his Will IF your mother survives him. That's because the right of survivorship, in that case, would override the Will. But if they own the house as joint tenants and he survives her, then his Will could leave the house to you. If they own it jointly, but NOT as joint tenants (meaning that the deed lists both of them as owners but does not say as joint tenants or otherwise make clear that there is a right of survivorship), then your father's Will can only control his interest (1/2, if there are only 2 owners, unless the deed says some other share). He could leave it to you. Again, your mother could try to claim it as year's support, if she is legally married to your father at his death. I hope this helps. Ideally, as I already mentioned, your father will consult a good estate planning attorney to help make sure his wishes are actually carried out.  ... Read More

Unfortunately, you may not be able to do anything to get a copy of the Will if the original Will was stolen. If you really believe that someone has the original Will and is trying to hide it, and if are an heir, you may be able to petition to have the appropriate probate court to force the person to produce the Will. However, if the original Will was stolen and destroyed, that may not work, either. If you can tell what attorney or law firm might have prepared the Will, you may be able to contact that attorney or firm and get information that way. You can also try contacting the probate court in the county the person lived in at the time you think the Will may have been made, and asking whether any original Will was placed with the probate court "for safekeeping." Use those exact words, "for safekeeping," because if you just contact a probate court and ask whether a Will has been filed with them they tend to assume you mean a Will that has been offered for probate. Find a good, experienced probate litigation attorney and discuss the situation with them. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on your loss. Under Georgia law, a person can revoke her Will either (1) by destroying the original Will with the intent being to revoke it, or (2) by executing a new Will that revokes the prior Will. A Power of Attorney is not a Will, so on the face of what you present it does not look like the provision in the POA should have successfully either revoked or modified your grandmother's Will. If for some reason the POA does manage to qualify as a Will, it may have successfully revoked the Will; however, that would be very unusual. A POA agent cannot change or revoke the Will of the person who made the POA, either. As for contesting the POA document, you really can't do that unless it is offered for probate as a Will. However, you may well be able to offer the prior Will for probate and, if needed, to compel your uncle or whoever else has it to offer it for probate. This is not a do-it-yourself task, however, Consult a good estate and trust litigation attorney (and please note, I do NOT do litigation) and have that attorney sit down with you, review as much as you can provide about the facts of the situation, and help you figure out what options you may have and what the likely cost of pursuing them may be. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Your mother will need to have an attorney review the Will and determine what it actually says. Wills don't expire; if there is some provision in the Will that allows your mother to remain in her mother's house until April 2018 that sounds like a trust may be created by the Will. However, it could be that your mother has misinterpreted the effects of her role under the Will. There is absolutely no way to tell the actual situation or what your mother's (or anyone elses') rights and interests are without seeing the actual Will.... Read More

I am very sorry for your loss. Please accept my condolences. Unfortunately, the only way for you to know whether your grandfather had a Will or whether you were included as a beneficiary under it is to look at the Will. If you believe that there is a Will, but that someone else is trying to hide it, you can petition the appropriate probate court to have that person compelled to produce the Will. I very strongly recommend that you hire an experienced estate litigation attorney to help you with that kind of project. If you think there was a Will and that it may already have been submitted to the probate court, you can call the court yourself and ask for a copy of the probate file for your grandfather. You may also be able to go to the court in person. You'll have to pay for copies, but you are entitled to see anything that is in the file. If your grandfather did not have a Will, then you may or may not be an heir. Whether you are an heir will depend on whether the parent of yours who was your grandfather's child is still living: if so, your parent, not you, would be an heir to your grandfather's estate; if not, then you are likely at least one of the heirs (there may be others).   Unfortunately, this kind of forum is not suited for anyone to be able  to provide you with specific legal advice about an actual situation. You will need to consult your own attorney for real help. Best wishes to you.... Read More

I assume your father has passed away.  If so, you are an heir to your grandfather’s estate and have a right to ask the Brantley County probate court to open an estate for your grandfather.  You (and your siblings) stand as equals to your uncle.  DO not sign anything documents without first speaking with a lawyer about the document you are asked to sign. Your uncle may be filing a Petition for Letters of Administration, and you will want to sign that document if you trust your uncle to handle things appropriately.     As for finding a will, you could start by calling each lawyer in the area to see if he ever prepared a will for your grandfather.  You can call the Brantley County Probate Court to see if they have one on file for your grandfather.  Otherwise, you are probably out of luck in locating a will that someone does not want you to find.... Read More

It is not clear from your question exactly how your sister (the executrix) is listed on the title to your mother's home. However, that is a critical part of the answer to your question, so I can't really answer you directly. Here's why: if your sister and your mother were listed on the titles to the homeplace as joint owners, and if the title documents (which is a deed for any real estate and usually a title for a mobile home in Georgia, so there may actually be two separate documents involved here) create what is called a "right of survivorship" between them, then your sister would automatically have received 100% ownership of the homeplace at your mother's death. Your mother's Will would have been completely irrelevant. Rights of survivorship and beneficiary designations directly control the assets to which they apply, and will override a Will that provides for a different disposition. There are two other possibilities about how your sister was listed on the title documents: 1. She and your mother were joint owners, but as "tenants in common," which DOES NOT have a right of survivorship. If this was the case, your sister owns half of the property, and the other half is in your mother's estate, subject to her Will, and needs to be handled properly. The executrix could not just ignore the Will in this case, but the Will would only control your mother's half interest, not all of it, and your sister would have significant rights as owner of the other half. 2. Your sister's name was the ONLY name on the title documents: if that is the case, then the property didn't belong to your mother at all at the time of her death, it belonged to your sister, and she can do whatever she wants with it. Whether it was given to her by your mother at some point or whether she got it some other way is a separate question that might need to be investigated. Now, if your sister's name wasn't actually on the title documents before your mother's death, then it may be that all of the property is in your mother's estate, and in that case, no, it does not sound like your sister is entitled to do what you say she's doing. To know exactly how the property was owned at your mother's death, you need to see the actual title documents. As stated already, that may mean both a deed (if your mother owned the land the mobile home is on) and a title document (for the mobile home itself). If she won't give you copies, you may have to try to force her. Either way, a good probate attorney with litigation focus should be able to help you figure out what the docs say and how to force them out of your sister if she won't hand them over. Best wishes to you.... Read More