Georgia Probate Laws: Executor Duties, Year’s Support, and Fees

Probate in Georgia is the court-supervised process of proving a will, appointing someone to run the estate, paying debts and taxes in the order the statute requires, and distributing what remains to the people entitled to it. Georgia probate laws set the rules for each of those steps, and the specifics matter: which form of probate you choose affects how final the result is, who inherits when there is no will follows a fixed hierarchy, and an executor who pays the wrong debt first can end up personally liable. The process runs through the probate court in the county where the decedent lived at death.

Filing the Will

The probate court in the county where the deceased was domiciled at death has jurisdiction over the will.1Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-5-1 – Jurisdiction and Domicile The named executor has the first right to offer the will for probate. If the executor fails to act with reasonable promptness or no executor is named, any interested person — a beneficiary, heir, or creditor — can file the will instead.2Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-5-2 – Right to Offer Will for Probate; Interested Person Defined

There is no fixed deadline measured in days or weeks, but a will cannot be offered for probate more than five years after the testator’s death.3Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-5-3 – Time Limitation Waiting a long time within that window still creates problems: creditors may act, property may change hands, and heirs may begin relying on intestate distribution.

A Georgia will is valid if it is in writing, signed by the testator (or by another person at the testator’s direction and in their presence), and witnessed by at least two competent individuals who also sign in the testator’s presence.4Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-4-20 – Requirements for Execution of a Valid Will Georgia does not recognize handwritten (holographic) wills that lack witness signatures. A will can also be made self-proving through a sworn affidavit signed by the testator and witnesses before a notary, which substitutes for live witness testimony at probate.5Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-4-24 – Self-Proved Will or Codicil Without that affidavit, the court may need to locate a witness and take testimony, which delays things if witnesses have moved, become incapacitated, or died.

Common Form vs. Solemn Form Probate

Georgia offers two tracks, and the choice has real consequences for how quickly the estate closes and how final the result is.

Common form probate is faster because it does not require advance notice to heirs or beneficiaries. The court can admit the will and appoint the executor based on the petition and supporting evidence alone. The tradeoff is finality: after common form probate, interested parties still have four years to challenge the will.

Solemn form probate requires the executor to notify all heirs by name and give them a chance to object before probate is completed. The petition must list every heir’s name, age or majority status, address, and relationship to the deceased.6Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-5-21 – Procedure If all heirs acknowledge service and consent, and a self-proving affidavit is attached, the court can accept the will without further delay or witness testimony as long as no one files an objection.5Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-4-24 – Self-Proved Will or Codicil Once the objection period passes, the judgment is final and the will cannot be contested afterward. For most estates, solemn form is the better choice despite the added up-front effort, because it removes years of uncertainty.

Executor Duties, Bond, and Compensation

The executor (called a “personal representative” in Georgia’s code) runs the estate from appointment through final distribution. The job carries legal obligations, and mishandling it can produce personal liability.

Bond

After the court admits the will, the executor takes an oath and may need to post a bond. For intestate estates and temporary administrators, a bond with sufficient security is required by default, though heirs can unanimously waive it.7Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-6-50 – Persons Required to Give Bond For testate estates, many wills explicitly waive bond. If the will is silent, the court decides.

Core Responsibilities

Once appointed, the executor must:

  • Prepare a detailed inventory of the decedent’s property, file it with the probate court within six months of qualification, and mail a copy to the beneficiaries or heirs.8Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-7-30 – Inventory
  • Publish a notice to creditors in the county’s official newspaper within 60 days of qualifying, running it once a week for four consecutive weeks. Creditors then have three months from the last published notice to submit their claims or risk losing equal treatment with other creditors of the same priority.9Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-7-41 – Notice for Creditors to Render Accounts
  • Pay valid claims from estate assets following the statutory priority order, file the decedent’s final income tax return, and handle any estate tax obligations.
  • Distribute the remaining property to beneficiaries under the will’s terms after debts, taxes, and expenses are settled.

Get an Employer Identification Number for the estate early. The IRS requires an EIN for the estate’s income tax return (Form 1041) and for opening estate bank accounts.10Internal Revenue Service. Information for Executors You can apply online through IRS.gov at no cost using Form SS-4.

Compensation

Georgia sets executor compensation by statute. Unless the will or a written agreement specifies a different amount, the personal representative earns a 2.5% commission on all money received on behalf of the estate and another 2.5% on all money paid out, whether for debts, legacies, or distributions to heirs. For property delivered in kind rather than sold, the court may award reasonable compensation up to 3% of the appraised value.11Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-6-60 – Amount Executor compensation is taxable income.

Debt Priority and Year’s Support

When an estate cannot pay every claim in full, Georgia sets a strict order. An executor who pays a lower-priority debt before a higher-priority one can be held personally liable for the difference.

The payment order is:12Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-7-40 – Liability of Estate; Priority of Claims

  1. Year’s support for the surviving spouse and minor children
  2. Funeral expenses appropriate to the decedent’s circumstances in life
  3. Other necessary expenses of administration
  4. Reasonable expenses of the decedent’s last illness
  5. Unpaid taxes or debts owed to the state or federal government
  6. Judgments, secured interests, and other liens, paid according to their priority
  7. All other claims

Year’s support is a distinctly Georgia concept. It gives the surviving spouse and any minor children a right to petition the probate court for property from the estate sufficient to support them for 12 months following the death.13Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-3-1 – Preference and Entitlement It sits at the top of the priority list, above funeral expenses, administration costs, and every creditor. It applies whether the decedent died with or without a will. Because a year’s support award can significantly reduce what is available for other claims, executors need to account for it early.

Federal Tax Filings

Executors may face up to three federal returns, and missing any of them can produce personal liability.

The decedent’s final Form 1040 covers income earned from January 1 through the date of death, due on the normal filing deadline for that year.

The estate’s Form 1041 is required if the estate generates $600 or more in gross income during any tax year of administration, from sources such as interest, rent, or investment gains after death.14Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1 The estate needs its own EIN for this filing.10Internal Revenue Service. Information for Executors

The federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for larger estates. For deaths in 2026, the filing threshold is $15,000,000.15Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Most Georgia estates fall well below that, but the return must also be filed if a surviving spouse wants to claim the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount (the portability election), regardless of estate size.16Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Estate Taxes Form 706 is due nine months after the date of death, with a six-month extension available by filing Form 4768 before the deadline.

Intestate Succession and Non-Probate Assets

When someone dies without a valid will in Georgia, the estate passes according to a statutory hierarchy:17Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-2-1 – Rules of Inheritance When Decedent Dies Without Will

  • Spouse with no children or other descendants: the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate.
  • Spouse with children or descendants: the spouse shares equally with the children, except the spouse’s share cannot be less than one-third of the estate. If a child has already died, that child’s descendants split their parent’s share.
  • No surviving spouse: children and their descendants inherit everything, with a deceased child’s share passing down to that child’s own children.
  • No spouse and no descendants: the estate passes to the decedent’s parents in equal shares. If neither parent survives, siblings are next, followed by grandparents, then more remote relatives.

If no heir at any level can be found, the estate escheats to the state. That outcome is rare, but it points to why having a will matters even when the estate is simple.

What a Will Never Controls

Several assets bypass probate entirely and pass directly to a named beneficiary, regardless of what the will says:

  • Life insurance policies with a designated beneficiary
  • Retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans and IRAs with beneficiary designations
  • Bank accounts structured as payable-on-death or joint accounts with survivorship rights
  • Investment accounts registered as transfer-on-death
  • Real property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship

These are not part of the probate estate and are not governed by intestate succession. A beneficiary designation made twenty years ago and never updated after a divorce still controls, no matter what the current will says. Reviewing beneficiary designations is at least as important as updating the will itself.

No Administration Necessary

Not every estate needs full probate. When someone dies without a will, all heirs agree on how to divide the property, and there are no unpaid debts (or all creditors consent), any heir can petition the probate court for an order that no administration is necessary.18Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-2-40 – Petition

The petition must list the decedent’s name and domicile, every heir’s name, age or majority status, and address, a description of all Georgia property, and confirmation that either no debts exist or all creditors have consented. Every heir must sign an agreement, attested before a notary or probate court clerk, specifying who receives what property and in what share.18Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-2-40 – Petition If no objection is filed, the court can grant the order without a hearing.

This procedure is only available for intestate estates. If the decedent had a will, even a disputed one, the estate must go through standard probate. And if any single heir refuses to sign or any creditor objects, the petition fails.

Contesting a Will

Anyone with standing (typically a beneficiary, heir, or person who would inherit under a prior will) can challenge a will by filing a caveat, a formal written objection, with the probate court. The court’s citation on the probate petition designates a deadline for objections.19Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Section 53-11-9 – Issuance of Citation Upon Filing of Petition Solemn form probate, which requires advance notice to all heirs, produces a final judgment once the objection period closes. Common form probate remains open to challenge for four years.

The grounds for contesting a will in Georgia generally include:

  • Lack of testamentary capacity: the testator did not understand the nature of their property, who their family members were, or what the will would do.
  • Undue influence: someone in a position of trust or authority pressured the testator into provisions that don’t reflect what the testator actually wanted.
  • Fraud: the testator was deceived about the contents or nature of the document they signed.
  • Improper execution: the will doesn’t meet Georgia’s signing and witness requirements.

The person challenging the will carries the burden of proof, and succeeding requires evidence: medical records, witness testimony about the testator’s mental state, or documentation of an alleged influencer’s involvement. If the challenge succeeds, the court may revert to a prior valid will or, if none exists, treat the estate as intestate. Georgia probate courts increasingly encourage mediation as an alternative to a full trial. If mediation produces a settlement, the probate court can incorporate its terms into the final order.

Probate Filing Fees

Georgia probate courts charge filing fees that vary by county. Fulton County, as a reference, charges $209 for the initial petition to probate a will in either common or solemn form. Where publication of notice is required, that cost is additional and depends on the word count and number of weeks; a typical four-week publication can add roughly $100 to $200. Beyond court fees, the estate may pay for certified copies of letters testamentary, appraisals of real property or other assets, and professional fees for attorneys or accountants. Budgeting for these expenses early helps the executor avoid surprises during administration.