My husband and I had wills made when we lived in Florida. We have lived in Georgia now for almost 8 years and want to know if the will is still valid

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!