TANNER PITTMAN, LLC
  • HOME
  • Practice Areas
    • Civil Litigation
    • Commercial & Business Law
    • Estate Planning >
      • Estate Planning
      • Healthcare Directives
      • Hiring an estate attorney
    • Estate Representation >
      • Probate Services
      • Will & Estate Disputes
    • Family Legal Transactions
    • Real Estate Law
  • About Us
    • Attorney Profile >
      • Despre Tanner Pittman - Limba Romana
      • Rechtsanwalt Tanner Pittman - Deutsch
  • Contact Us
  • Blog "Fiduciary Folio"
  • Testimonials

12/5/2014

Another reason for a living trust: you have 79 heirs

Read Now
 
Picture
In Georgia, most estate attorneys recommend use of a will rather than a living trust. Probate in this state is a simple affair, if the will is properly drafted, and living trusts are expensive to manage and administer during life. 

The situation may differ when the testator knows she has 79 heirs. 

In a recent case, we were called upon to probate a simple will, leaving an entire estate to the decedent's god-daughter. The problem? The deceased was one of twelve siblings, all of whom predeceased her. Not only this, but the decedent died at age 101, meaning that most of her siblings' children have already died. 

The result has been that the decedent has 79 heirs at law. Why does this matter, given that there is only one beneficiary of the will? It matters because the Georgia Code requires service of the petition to probate upon all heirs at law, even if those heirs are not beneficiaries. And by "service," we typically mean a sheriff's deputy delivering the petition to the heirs' doorstep - although out-of-state heirs need only get certified mailings. 

Living trusts are better estate planning devices in such cases. When the maker of a living trust dies, and the trust becomes irrevocable, the Georgia Code requires notice only to the beneficiaries of that trust, not to the heirs of the trust-maker (the "settlor"). OCGA § 53-12-242. 


Tracking down 79 heirs is a daunting and expensive challenge. In our firm's present case, paying a little more to draft a living trust would have meant great savings for the decedent's heirs. 

Share


Comments are closed.
Details

    Author

    Tanner Pittman, LLC is a West Georgia law firm that specializes in estate services, civil litigation, and legal transactions.

    Archives

    February 2016
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    October 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Categories

    All
    Administration
    Civil Litigation
    Collections Law
    Estate Planning
    Estate Services
    Estate Tax
    Evidence
    Family Legal Transactions
    Financial Planning
    Inheritance
    Litigation
    Living Trusts
    Politics
    Probate
    Probate Litigation
    Real Estate
    Special Needs Beneficiaries
    Torts
    Trusts
    Will Contests
    Wills
    Year's Support
    Year's Support

    Estate & Probate Blogs

    Atlanta Probate Lawyer Blog
    Alpharetta Probate Law Blog
    Death and Taxes (the blog)
    Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
    Georgia Wills, Trusts, and Estates Blog
    Minnesota Estate Planning and Probate
    North Carolina Estate Planning Blog
    Ohio Estate Law Blog
    San Diego Estate Center
    Trial and Heirs
    Wills and Estates
     Professors' Blog

    Other Law Blogs

    Celebrity Justice
    CourtSide
    Decided
    Evidence  Law Professors' Blog
    FindLaw Insider
    Legal Grounds
    Legally Weird
    Tarnished Twenty
    The Irreverent Lawyer

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Philippe Put, mkhmarketing, bradleypjohnson, kate*, The Jordan Collective, Ivy Dawned, chucknado
  • HOME
  • Practice Areas
    • Civil Litigation
    • Commercial & Business Law
    • Estate Planning >
      • Estate Planning
      • Healthcare Directives
      • Hiring an estate attorney
    • Estate Representation >
      • Probate Services
      • Will & Estate Disputes
    • Family Legal Transactions
    • Real Estate Law
  • About Us
    • Attorney Profile >
      • Despre Tanner Pittman - Limba Romana
      • Rechtsanwalt Tanner Pittman - Deutsch
  • Contact Us
  • Blog "Fiduciary Folio"
  • Testimonials