2020 Georgia Code
Title 53 - Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
Chapter 7 - Administration of Estates Generally
Article 1 - Powers and Duties Generally
§ 53-7-2. Administration of Entire Estate; Distribution of Residuum
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 decedent had died intestate.
(Code 1981, §53-7-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10.)
Law reviews.- For note, "Not Just For Kids: Why Georgia's Statutory Disinheritance of Deadbeat Parents Should Extend to Intestate Adults," see 43 Ga. L. Rev. 867 (2009).
COMMENTThis section replaces former OCGA Sec. 53-7-2 and applies the provisions of that section to all personal representatives, rather than just to executors and administrators with the will annexed. (See Code Sec. 53-1-2 for the definition of "personal representative".) Former OCGA Sec. 53-7-1, relating to the powers of an executor upon probate of a will in common form, is repealed.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Beneficiaries of estate had standing to bring claim.
- Trial court's denial of a sister's motion to dismiss an action by siblings, seeking to set aside quitclaim deeds that the parties' father had executed in favor of the sister, was proper because the siblings, as heirs at law and beneficiaries of the estate, were proper parties to have brought the action pursuant to O.C.G.A. §§ 53-7-2 and53-7-5(a) when it was clear that the co-executors, one of whom was the sister, were not going to bring the claim; there was no abandonment of the claim against the property despite the signing by the co-executors of a federal estate tax return under O.C.G.A. § 53-7-45, as the tax return was due and any changes based on rights to the property could have been set forth in an amended return. Field v. Mednikow, 279 Ga. App. 380, 631 S.E.2d 395 (2006).
Estate administrator had right to inspect.
- Order granting an estate administrator of a deceased shareholder the right to inspect the defendant's corporate books and denying the defendant's motions to compel and stay pending arbitration was affirmed because the statutes governing the transfer of stock to the estate vested ownership of the shares in the administrator of the estate and the probate court's order granted the adminstrator trustee's powers over those shares. Regal Nissan, Inc. v. Scott, 348 Ga. App. 91, 821 S.E.2d 561 (2018).
