To transfer property after death without a will in Georgia, you first separate the assets that pass automatically to a co-owner or named beneficiary from the assets that need court involvement, then you use either Georgia’s no-administration shortcut (when all heirs agree and debts are resolved) or a full probate administration in the county where the person lived. Georgia’s intestate succession statute decides who the heirs are, and the probate court supervises the transfer of anything that doesn’t already have a survivorship or beneficiary designation attached to it.
Start With What Skips Probate Entirely
Before opening any court case, look at how each asset is titled. Several common asset types transfer directly at death and never touch intestate succession:
- Jointly owned real estate or bank accounts with right of survivorship pass automatically to the surviving co-owner.
- Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts (checking, savings, CDs, brokerage) go straight to the named beneficiary.
- Life insurance proceeds go to the listed beneficiary unless the estate itself is named.
- Retirement accounts (401(k)s, IRAs, pensions) with a named beneficiary transfer outside probate.
- Assets held in a trust distribute under the trust terms.
Beneficiary designations override anything else. An outdated form naming an ex-spouse still controls, no matter what intestate succession would otherwise say.
One federal rule matters for 401(k)s and similar employer plans. Under ERISA, a married participant’s account balance goes to the surviving spouse regardless of the beneficiary form, unless the spouse previously signed a written, witnessed or notarized waiver.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 1055 – Requirement of Joint and Survivor Annuity and Preretirement Survivor Annuity For those accounts, the surviving spouse’s claim is often stronger than any state intestate share.
Whatever remains after you pull those categories out is the probate estate. That’s what the rest of this article is about.
Who Inherits Under Georgia Intestate Law
You can’t transfer property to the right people until you know who they are. Georgia Code Title 53, Chapter 2 sets a strict order.
If a spouse and children both survive, they share equally, but the spouse’s share never drops below one-third. Two children means thirds all around. Five children means the spouse takes one-third and the children split the remaining two-thirds. With no children or other descendants, the spouse inherits everything.2Justia. Georgia Code 53-2-1 – Rules of Inheritance When Decedent Dies Without Will; Effect of Abandonment of Child
Grandchildren of a child who died before the decedent step into that child’s share and divide it among themselves. Georgia calls this per stirpes distribution. One surviving child plus two grandchildren from a deceased second child means the surviving child takes half and the two grandchildren split the other half.
When no spouse and no descendants survive, the estate moves down the tiers in order: parents, then siblings (with a deceased sibling’s children taking that sibling’s share), then nieces and nephews, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles (with first cousins standing in for a deceased aunt or uncle). Each tier is fully exhausted before the next one inherits.2Justia. Georgia Code 53-2-1 – Rules of Inheritance When Decedent Dies Without Will; Effect of Abandonment of Child
A few status rules can catch families off guard. Adopted children inherit as full biological children of their adoptive parents.3Justia. Georgia Code 19-8-19 – Effect of Decree of Adoption Half-siblings inherit on equal footing with full siblings. Stepchildren who were never legally adopted have no automatic claim, which is where blended families most often collide with the statute. A parent who willfully abandoned a minor child loses the right to inherit from that child.2Justia. Georgia Code 53-2-1 – Rules of Inheritance When Decedent Dies Without Will; Effect of Abandonment of Child
The No-Administration Shortcut
Georgia offers a streamlined path when a family is on good terms and the estate is straightforward. Any heir can petition the probate court for an order that no administration is necessary. If granted, heirs take possession and transfer title in their own right without the cost and delay of a full probate case.4Justia. Georgia Code 53-2-40 – Petition
There’s no dollar-value limit, but four conditions apply:
- No personal representative has already been appointed.
- All heirs agree on how to divide the estate, with signatures either notarized or attested by a probate court clerk.
- The estate has no debts, or every creditor consents.
- Any property with a security deed on it (a mortgage, for instance) is included only with the lender’s consent or non-objection.
The moment one heir disagrees, or a creditor refuses to consent, this path collapses and formal administration becomes necessary.
Full Probate Administration
When the shortcut isn’t available, someone has to open an administration in the probate court of the county where the decedent lived. It starts with a petition for letters of administration identifying the decedent, listing every known heir with ages and addresses, describing the property, and stating why the petitioner should be appointed.
Who the Court Appoints
If all heirs unanimously agree on a person, that’s who serves. Otherwise the court follows a statutory priority list: the surviving spouse first (unless a divorce or separate maintenance action was pending at death), then one or more heirs or whoever the majority of heirs by interest select, then any other eligible person, then a creditor, and finally the county administrator as a last resort.5Justia. Georgia Code 53-6-20 – Selection or Appointment of Administrator
Bond
The administrator must post a bond before taking control. With a commercial surety company, the bond equals the estate’s value; with an individual surety, it must equal double that value. Real property is excluded from the bond calculation unless it’s sold and converted to cash during administration.6Justia. Georgia Code 53-6-51 – Requisites The premium is paid from the estate.
What the Administrator Does
Once appointed, the administrator inventories every asset, files that inventory with the court, pays debts and taxes in legal priority order, and distributes what’s left to the heirs identified by the intestate statute. The probate court supervises throughout and resolves disputes as they come up.
Year’s Support: A Priority Transfer for Spouse and Minor Children
A surviving spouse or minor child can bypass the ordinary distribution order by petitioning for year’s support, an award of estate property to cover 12 months of maintenance. It takes priority over almost every other claim against the estate, including most creditors.7Justia. Georgia Code 53-3-1 – Preference and Entitlement
There’s no statutory dollar cap. The probate court weighs the applicant’s other income and assets, the estate’s solvency, the standard of living at the time of death, and the applicant’s age and health. For a modest estate, a year’s support award can absorb most or all of it and become the fastest way to move property to the surviving family without a lengthy administration. The petition must be filed within two years of death, and remarriage before filing ends the right.
Moving Title to Specific Assets
Real Estate
Real estate owned by an intestate decedent vests in the heirs at law the moment the owner dies. That title is subject to divestment once an administrator is appointed; at that point, legal title shifts to the administrator, who holds it for the heirs and creditors until administration ends and the administrator consents to title returning to the heirs.8Justia. Georgia Code 53-2-7 – Vesting of Title to Property of Intestate Decedent
If the home has a mortgage, heirs don’t have to refinance or requalify. The Garn-St. Germain Act bars a lender from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when residential property (fewer than five units) passes to a relative because of the borrower’s death.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions The heir can keep making the existing payments. This protection applies whether the transfer is under a will or through intestate succession.
Bank Accounts, Investments, and Personal Property
Everything other than real estate vests directly in the administrator, not in the heirs, from the start of the administration. The administrator has exclusive authority over these assets. In practical terms, an heir cannot walk into the bank with just a death certificate and withdraw funds from the decedent’s individual account. The bank will require letters of administration (or, for a very small estate handled through the no-administration path, the court order granting that petition). Once debts are paid and the administrator is ready to distribute, funds move to the heirs in their statutory shares.
Where Transfers Get Stuck
A few problems slow these transfers more than any others. Blended-family status questions come first: a long-time stepchild who was never adopted has no claim, while a biological child the decedent barely knew has full rights, and the probate court applies the statute strictly. Asset valuation is another sticking point, especially with real estate, a family business, or unusual personal property; the administrator arranges appraisals, and disputes over the numbers go back to the probate court. Creditor claims must be resolved before heirs receive anything, and a year’s support petition, because it has no cap, can itself draw objections from other heirs or creditors who think the amount is too high. Any of these can extend the administration by months.
If the estate is small, the family is aligned, and debts are manageable, the no-administration petition is almost always the cheapest and fastest transfer. If any of those conditions fail, plan on a full administration and budget the time accordingly.