Title 53 — Title 53

(a) For purposes of this article, the term ‘‘personal representative’’ includes temporary administrators. (b) When an action is brought against a personal representative in that person’s representative capacity, the personal representative may make the following defenses: (1) Tha…

In-kind distribution, authority of administrator, §53-2-30. Discharge and resignation of personal representatives, §§53-7-50 to 53-7-56. Action against discharged personal representatives, §53-7-50. Application of provisions. Temporary administrators, §53-7-52. Breach of fiduciary…

An action against joint personal representatives shall not abate by the death of one but shall proceed against the survivor or survivors. 576 History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-12, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10. 53-7-14

(a) In any action or proceeding brought pursuant to this article, service of any notice, writ, or process shall be made in the manner provided by Chapter 11 of this title if Chapter 11 of this title is applicable under Code Section 53-11-1. If Chapter 11 of this title is not appl…

(a) When letters testamentary or letters of administration are revoked, no action by or against the removed personal representative shall abate. The newly appointed personal representative may be made a party plaintiff or defendant in place of the removed personal representative.…

Allowable defenses; action originating in lifetime of decedent. Survival of action. Service of notice, writ, or process. Action against removed personal administrator. Applicability of provisions relating to sureties on guardians’ or conservators’ bonds. Joint and several liabili…

In all cases of removal of a personal representative for any cause, the sureties on that personal representative’s bond shall be liable for the personal representative’s acts in connection with the estate up to the time of settlement with another personal representative or the di…

Final receipts, §53-7-65. Final settlement, §53-7-63. Income on property administered, §53-7-64. Indemnification of personal representatives. Refunding bonds, §53-7-66. Intermediate reports. Appeals, §53-7-74. Conclusiveness of order, §53-7-77. Construction of will, §53-7-75. Cont…

The personal representative shall be entitled to possess and administer the entire estate. If, after payment of debts and satisfaction of testamentary gifts, there are assets not given under the will, such assets shall be distributed to the heirs of the decedent as if the deceden…

Damages, injunctions, etc, actions for, §53-7-54. Common bond, §53-7-17. Defenses, §53-7-10. Action originating in lifetime of decedent, §53-7-11. 1005 INDEX EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS —Cont’d Actions against personal representatives —Cont’d Entering of judgment, §53-7-22. Exec…

In an action against a personal representative in that person’s representative capacity, the judgment shall generally be de bonis testatoris. However, when the personal representative unsuccessfully makes any of the defenses described in Code Section 53-7-10 or a release, the jud…

(a) When a judgment has been obtained against the principal and surety or sureties on the bond of a personal representative, guardian, or other fiduciary, a levy may be made upon any property of any defendant in fi. fa. (b) The probate court shall be authorized to enter a judgment …

Foreign personal representatives, §§53-5-42 to 53-5-47. Probate of foreign or out-of-state wills, intestate nondomiciliary, §§53-5-30 to 53-5-41. Claims against or in favor of estate, §§53-7-40 to 53-7-45. County administrators, §§53-6-35 to 53-6-44. Descent and distribution, §§5…

An administrator with the will annexed shall have all rights, powers, privileges, exemptions, and immunities of the executor, including the dispensation by the testator of the necessity of making inventory and returns. History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-3, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 50…

Unless otherwise provided by will or relieved under Code Section 53-7-32 or 53-7-33, the personal representative shall prepare an inventory of all the property of the decedent. The personal representative shall file the inventory with the probate court and shall deliver a copy of …

Removal of personal representative for failure to return correct inventory, §53-7-34. Testator’s power to dispense with, §53-7-33. Waiver of right to receive, §53-7-32.

A testator may, by will, dispense with the necessity of the personal representative’s making an inventory to the probate court or the beneficiaries or both, provided the same does not work any injury to creditors or persons other than beneficiaries under the will. If a will was exe…

Unless the inventory is waived pursuant to Code Section 53-7-32 or a testator by will dispenses with the necessity of having a personal representative make an inventory pursuant to Code Section 53-7-33, the failure of a personal representative to return a correct inventory shall …

Unless otherwise provided by law, all property of the estate, both real and personal, shall be liable for the payment of claims against the estate in the following order: (1) Year’s support for the family; (2) Funeral expenses, whether or not the decedent leaves a surviving spous…

Filing, §53-7-61. Receipts and disbursements. Annual statement to heirs or beneficiaries, §53-7-69.1. Recordation of final receipts, §53-7-65. Refunding bonds, §53-7-66. Reports. Annual returns, §53-7-67. Intermediate reports, §§53-7-73 to 53-7-78. Service of process.

If the estate shall have been distributed to the heirs or beneficiaries without notice of an existing debt, a creditor may compel them to contribute pro rata to the payment of the debt. History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-43, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10. COMMENT This section car…

Except as otherwise provided by the will, any debt not due by its terms at the time for payment of debts of equal priority shall be satisfied and the estate shall be discharged with respect to such debt in such manner as the personal representative deems to be in the best interest…

Personal representatives are authorized to compromise, adjust, arbitrate, assign, sue or defend, abandon, or otherwise deal with or settle debts or claims in favor of or against the estate. A personal representative who declines to litigate any claim may assign the claim to a cre…

Resignation, §53-7-56. Revocation of letters, §53-7-55. Sanctions, §53-7-55. Subsequently discovered estate. Appointment of discharged representative or successor to administer, §53-7-50. Temporary administrator, §53-7-52. Unclaimed funds, §53-7-51. Void because of fraud, §53-7-5…

If funds are in the hands of the personal representative and no person claims such funds, the probate court may nevertheless grant a discharge. History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-51, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1586, § 36. COMMENT This section carries forward …

A temporary administrator may be discharged in the same manner as provided for discharge of personal representatives. History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-52, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10. 616 This section carries forward the substance of former OCGA Sec. 53-7-144. See Code Sec. …

A discharge obtained by the personal representative by means of any fraud is void and may be set aside on motion and proof of fraud. History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-53, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10. COMMENT This section carries forward former OCGA Sec. 53-7-147.

(a) If a personal representative or temporary administrator commits a breach of fiduciary duty or threatens to commit a breach of fiduciary duty, a beneficiary of a testate estate or heir of an intestate estate shall have a cause of action: (1) To recover damages; (2) To compel the …

(a) A personal representative may resign: (1) In the manner and under the circumstances described in the will; (2) Upon petition to the probate court, showing that the resignation has been requested in writing by all heirs of an intestate estate or all beneficiaries of a testate e…

Income received during administration, §53-7-7. Minor heirs, support and education, §53-7-8. More than one personal representative, §53-7-5. EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS —Cont’d Powers and duties —Cont’d Residuum, §53-7-2. Safe deposit boxes, §53-7-5. Temporary administrators, §5…

The superior court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the probate court over the settlement of accounts of personal representatives. History. — Code 1981, § 53-7-60, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10. COMMENT This section carries forward former OCGA Sec. 53-7-160.

If the personal representative resigns, is removed, or dies, an heir of an intestate estate or a beneficiary of a testate estate, the sureties of the personal representative or other personal representatives, or the successor personal representative may petition for an accounting …

Testator’s power to dispense with necessity of return, §53-7-69. Time representative to account for income on property, §53-7-64. Settlement of claims for or against estate, §53-7-45. Temporary administration. Action by temporary administrator for collection of debt, §53-6-31. Ap…

Upon proof of issuance of citation and service of notice pursuant to Code Section 53-7-62, the probate court may proceed to make an account, hear evidence upon any contested question, and make a final settlement between the personal representative and the heirs or beneficiaries. Th…

A personal representative shall account for income on the property administered as follows: (1) The personal representative shall be charged with all income earned during the period of one year after the date of qualification; (2) For the period beginning one year after the date o…

The final receipts on settlements given by heirs or beneficiaries to a personal representative, whether a judicial or an informal settlement, may be admitted to record by the clerk of the probate court or the clerk of the superior court in either the county of residence of the pers…

When litigation against the estate is pending or is threatened or when notice of a claim has been given to the personal representative, the personal representative may demand that the heirs or beneficiaries give refunding bonds to indemnify the personal representative against the …

(a) Within 60 days of the anniversary of the date of qualification, in each year, every personal representative required by the laws of this state to make annual returns shall file with the probate court a true and just verified accounting of the receipts and expenditures in behalf …

A testator may, by will, dispense with the necessity of the personal representative’s filing an annual return with the probate court or the beneficiaries or both, provided the same does not work any injury to creditors or persons other than beneficiaries under the will. If a will wa…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, a personal representative shall furnish to the heirs of an intestate estate or the beneficiaries of a testate estate, at least annually, a statement of receipts and disbursements. (b) Any heir or beneficiary may waive i…

Except as otherwise provided in the will, income received by an executor during the period of administration from property that is used to pay debts, taxes, expenses of administration, general testamentary gifts, and other expenses chargeable to corpus shall be paid to the income…

Failure to settle and account. Action against representative, §53-7-19. Filing of petitions, §53-7-61.

(a) The return of a nonresident personal representative may be admitted to record upon affidavit of the personal representative’s surety. (b) If a personal representative is dead, the personal representative of the estate of the deceased personal representative or, if at any time…

Powers and duties of personal representatives, §53-7-5. 1010 INDEX EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS —Cont’d Sale or conveyance of property. Appeals, §53-8-13. Assent to passage of title, §53-8-15. Authority of personal representative, §53-8-10. Expensive-to-keep property, §53-8-11.

At or before the time fixed for hearing, any parties at interest may file objections to the personal representative’s report, actions, and accounting, in which case the hearing on the accounting shall automatically be continued until a date certain, when, subject to the probate cou…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section and in paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of Code Section 15-9-127, whenever it appears that a question of construction of a will is involved in the accounting, the probate court, upon its own motion or upon the…

Should it appear from the intermediate report that the personal representative is liable to the estate or to any beneficiary of the estate, the probate court is authorized and it shall be the court’s duty to enter a judgment surcharging the personal representative in such amount a…

All parties in interest shall be bound by the order of the probate court on the intermediate report; and thereafter no such person shall be heard in any court, except upon appeal, to contest or question any matters or things covered by the report and the order on the report in th…

Generally, §§53-12-380 to 53-12-431. Probate of wills, §§53-5-1 to 53-5-51. Foreign or out-of-state wills generally, §§53-5-30 to 53-5-41. Foreign personal representatives, §§53-5-42 to 53-5-47. Revised Probate Code of 1998. Effective date of provisions, §53-1-1. Provisions known…

Caveats to wills, executors pending litigation of, §53-7-4. Contracts, §53-7-6. Disposition of income received during administration, §53-7-7. Entire estate, §53-7-2. Enumeration of powers generally, §53-7-6. Generally, §§53-7-1, 53-7-6.