Procedure

(a) A will may be proved in common form upon the testimony of a single subscribing witness and without service or notice to anyone. If the will is self-proved, compliance with signature requirements for execution is presumed and other requirements for execution are presumed without the testimony of any subscribing witness. (b) The petition to probate a will in common form shall set forth the same information required in a petition to probate a will in solemn form. The petition shall conclude with a prayer for the issuance of letters testamentary. History. — Code 1981, § 53-5-17, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-19/HB 865. The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, inserted ‘‘service or’’ in the first sentence in subsection (a). COMMENT This section carries forward portions of former OCGA Sec. 53-3-9. Subsection (a) of this section combines the first sentence of subsection (a) and subsection (c) of former OCGA Sec. 53-3-9. Subsection (b) of this section carries forward subsection (b) of former OCGA Sec. 53-3-9. Former OCGA Sec. 53-3-10 (relating to the procedure when a testator dies in a county other than the county of residence) is repealed. See Chapter 11 for general provisions regarding the filing of petitions in the probate court.