An executor’s deed in Georgia is the instrument used to transfer real property out of a deceased person’s estate, either to a beneficiary named in the will or to an outside buyer. The executor signs in a fiduciary capacity rather than as a personal owner, and the deed conveys only whatever interest the estate actually holds. It carries no warranty of title, which means the executor takes on no personal liability for defects in the property’s ownership history.
Getting Authority to Sign
Before signing anything, the probate court has to formally recognize the executor through Letters Testamentary, issued after the will is admitted to probate and the executor petitions for appointment.1Justia Law. Georgia Code 53-5-21 – Procedure Without those letters, there is no legal standing to act for the estate, and the clerk will not record a deed you sign.
Letters Testamentary let you manage the estate, but selling or transferring real property requires a second layer of authority. That comes from one of two places.
The first is a power of sale written into the will. Many Georgia wills include a clause that gives the executor independent authority to sell estate property without going back to court. When that language is present, you can move straight to drafting the deed.
The second is a court order. If the will is silent on sales, or the estate needs to sell real estate to pay debts or make distributions, you must petition the probate court under O.C.G.A. § 53-8-13. The petition describes the property, the reason for the sale, the proposed price, and the names and addresses of all beneficiaries. The court issues a citation, notifies the beneficiaries, and, assuming no one objects, orders the sale.2Justia Law. Georgia Code 53-8-13 – Petition for Leave to Sell
Skipping this step when the will lacks a power of sale is one of the most common mistakes in Georgia estate administration. A deed signed without proper authority creates a cloud on title that can take years and significant legal fees to clear. If you are not certain the will grants a power of sale, get a definitive answer before you draft anything.
What the Deed Conveys (and What It Doesn’t)
An executor’s deed functions much like a specialized quitclaim. You warrant only that you have the legal authority to act for the estate. There is no guarantee that title is free of liens, encumbrances, or competing ownership claims. Any defect that existed before the decedent died passes along with the deed.
The lack of warranty is intentional. An executor stepping into a fiduciary role should not bear personal liability for problems they had no part in creating. Buyers purchasing estate property this way should pay for a thorough title search and title insurance. Beneficiaries receiving inherited property have less leverage to negotiate, but title insurance is still worth considering if you plan to sell or refinance.
What to Put in the Deed
Georgia does not require any specific deed form. O.C.G.A. § 44-5-33 provides that if the deed is sufficient to make the transaction clear between the parties, no defect in form will invalidate it.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-33 – Form of Deed Even so, certain information is practically necessary for the deed to be recorded and for future title searches to trace ownership.
Identify the grantor as the executor acting in a fiduciary capacity, for example “Jane Smith, as Executor of the Estate of John Smith, Deceased.” Using the executor’s name alone, without the fiduciary designation, creates ambiguity about whether the property is coming from the estate or from the executor personally. The grantee’s full legal name must appear so the new owner is clearly identifiable in county records.
The deed must state consideration, typically the purchase price for a sale or “love and affection” for a transfer to a beneficiary. Georgia law requires that a deed be made on good or valuable consideration.4Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-30 – Requisites of Deed to Lands; Inquiry Into Consideration The property needs a full legal description, not just a street address. That is usually a metes-and-bounds description or a reference to a recorded plat. You can pull the legal description from the most recent deed in the chain of title through the county clerk’s real estate records.
Include the probate case number and the county where the will was admitted. Those references let anyone researching the property trace your authority back to the court file. If the sale required a court order rather than a power of sale in the will, including the order’s date and docket number creates a cleaner record. O.C.G.A. § 53-8-13(e) provides that reciting compliance with the sale procedures in the deed itself serves as presumptive evidence that those procedures were followed.2Justia Law. Georgia Code 53-8-13 – Petition for Leave to Sell
Signing and Witnessing
Georgia requires every deed to land to be signed by the maker, attested by an authorized officer, and attested by one additional witness.4Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-5-30 – Requisites of Deed to Lands; Inquiry Into Consideration The executor signs, and two people witness: one authorized officer and one other witness.
The authorized officer is typically a notary public, though Georgia law also allows a judge, magistrate, or clerk of the superior court to serve in that role.5Justia Law. Georgia Code 44-2-15 – Officers Authorized to Attest Nearly everyone uses a notary. The notary applies an official seal and signature, confirming the executor’s identity and the voluntary nature of the signing. The second witness can be any competent adult, with no special credentials required.
Getting this wrong is easy. A deed signed with only a notary, or signed when the witnesses were not actually present, can be rejected for recording or challenged later. Have everyone in the same room at the same time.
Filing with the County and Paying Fees
After signing, file the deed with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the property is located. Filing requires the deed itself, a completed PT-61 Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration, and the applicable fees.
The PT-61 is Georgia’s mandatory form for any deed that transfers ownership. Complete it electronically through the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority website, print the filing confirmation, and submit it with the deed.6Georgia Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Tax Clerks will not accept a deed without it.
The recording fee for a deed is a flat $25, set by statute and uniform across counties.7Justia Law. Georgia Code 15-6-77 – Fees If the property is being sold rather than distributed to a beneficiary, Georgia also imposes a real estate transfer tax that works out to $1 per $1,000 of sale price.6Georgia Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Tax On a $300,000 sale, that is $300. Transfers to beneficiaries for no monetary consideration generally do not trigger the tax, because the rate is calculated on the sale price and there is none.
Once the clerk processes the deed and fees, the transfer becomes part of the public record and your responsibility for that asset is complete.
Pay Creditors Before Distributing
You cannot simply hand property to beneficiaries while the estate still owes debts. Georgia law sets a strict priority order for paying claims, and all estate property, including real estate, is subject to those obligations.8Justia Law. Georgia Code 53-7-40 – Liability of Estate; Priority of Claims Year’s support for a surviving spouse or minor children sits at the top, followed by funeral expenses, administration costs, last illness expenses, taxes, judgments and secured liens, and finally other unsecured claims.
If the estate lacks cash to cover these obligations, you may need to sell real property to generate funds, which puts you back into the petition process under O.C.G.A. § 53-8-13. An executor who transfers property to a beneficiary before satisfying higher-priority claims can face personal liability. This is the point in estate administration where things get genuinely dangerous for the executor, and it is the main reason most people in this role hire an attorney before distributing anything of significant value.
If There Is No Will
When someone dies without a will, there is no executor. The probate court appoints an administrator instead, and the resulting instrument is called an administrator’s deed rather than an executor’s deed. It functions the same way: it conveys the estate’s interest without warranty. The authority comes entirely from the court through a petition for leave to sell under O.C.G.A. § 53-8-13, and title to the decedent’s real property, which initially vests in the heirs, shifts to the administrator for the benefit of heirs and creditors once the appointment is made.9Justia Law. Georgia Code 53-2-7 – Vesting of Title to Property
If the Property Has a Mortgage
Transferring property through an executor’s deed does not erase an existing mortgage. The loan survives and the lien stays attached. The important question is whether the lender can demand immediate full repayment.
Federal law provides protection. The Garn-St. Germain Act prohibits lenders from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when property transfers to a relative as a result of the borrower’s death. The protection applies to residential property with fewer than five dwelling units.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 US Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions A spouse, child, or other relative who inherits the property can generally keep making the existing monthly payments on the original terms.
Inheriting the property and inheriting the debt are two different things. The beneficiary does not automatically become personally liable; the estate is. But a beneficiary who wants to keep the property needs to stay current and work with the servicer to be formally recognized as the successor on the account. On receiving notice of the borrower’s death, the servicer must tell the heir what documents are needed to confirm successor status.
This protection does not extend to transfers to unrelated third parties, LLCs, or commercial property. If the estate sells to an outside buyer through an executor’s deed, the mortgage has to be paid off at closing.
Tax Basis for the Beneficiary
Beneficiaries who receive real property through an executor’s deed get a meaningful federal tax advantage. Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014, the tax basis of inherited property resets to its fair market value on the date of the decedent’s death.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent If a parent bought a house for $80,000 in 1985 and it was worth $350,000 at death, the basis is $350,000, not the original purchase price. Selling immediately for $350,000 produces zero capital gains tax.
Stepped-up basis applies regardless of whether the estate owes federal estate tax. For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 per individual, meaning most estates owe nothing.12Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Even for estates well below that threshold, the step-up can eliminate large capital gains on appreciated property. If you inherit Georgia real estate and plan to sell, get a qualified appraisal as of the date of death. That appraisal establishes your basis and you will need it at tax time.