This is a serious question that we get a lot: ‘when are estates closed?’ When is it finally done, wrapped up, no longer susceptible to challenges, no longer managing assets? A pretty important question, really, for trustees, beneficiaries, and interested parties on the outside looking in. Wh...

There is, according to the New York Times, a current epidemic of disinheriting across the U.S. It revolves around elder abuse, but not how you’d expect. Not physical abuse, but psychological. It’s been brought to the forefront by the Sumner Redstone case we’ve posted about on Facebook. Redst...

What happens when an executor or administrator has gone silent and despite your best efforts will not communicate with you. You've called. You've sent letters. You even tried certified mail. And yet, you receive no response. You begin to get a little suspicious. Why would the executor or administra...

  There are many types of disputes that could erupt when settling an estate, and one common type of dispute is a will contest. A will contest happens when one party files a will for probate that another party does not agree with. There could be any number of reasons why someone believ...

Today’s probate law question comes from Atlanta, Georgia. Under Georgia probate law, all heirs of the deceased are entitled to receive notice when the probate case is filed with the court. This is the case whether or not there is a will. Typically, the notice happens in one of two ways.First, t...

Today’s probate law question comes from Atlanta, Georgia. What happens when a business is started by a father and son, the father dies, but the business documents are not clear about whether the son owns any part of the business? To make things more complicated, the father has other children. Does...

What happens when property is owned by two people and one of them dies?  Is the real estate inherited by the family? This is a common question about inheritance in Georgia. The answer depends on what the title to the property says. The relationship between the co-owners (whether married or not mar...

I recently received a question from Marietta, Georgia regarding life insurance. In this situation, someone died and that person had named a beneficiary on their life insurance policy. Then, the beneficiary died before the proceeds of the insurance were paid to the beneficiary. What happens to the mo...

Do you have a durable power of attorney in Georgia? If you answered “no”, then contact our office now.  Yes, now. So, why do I, a probate attorney, care if you have a durable power of attorney?  After all, a power of attorney has nothing to do with probate because it terminates upon death,...

What to do when Medicaid is threatening a lien on property? What can Medicaid do? What can you do? What if the estate property is not worth enough to cover the lien? This week’s question for Georgia probate lawyer Erik Broel comes from Marietta, Georgia. First, some background. Medicaid is a st...

This week’s probate question comes from someone in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia probate law does not require that an heir be in Georgia, or even in the United States in order to consent to a probate petition, or participate in probating an estate. All that Georgia probate law requires is that the sig...

Having a name on the death certificate that does not match older records can pose a serious challenge for many things, including arranging for a military burial for the deceased soldier. How can you fix this situation? The first thing to do is to find his driver’s license, passport, social secu...