2021 Georgia Code
Title 53 - Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
Chapter 11 - Proceedings in Probate Court
§ 53-11-9. Issuance of Citation Upon Filing of Petition; Contents; Meaning; Definitions; Caveat or Objection

1. Upon the filing of a petition, a citation shall be issued by the court and addressed to the persons required to be served with notice or who otherwise are to be served with notice; provided, however, that if all such persons have acknowledged service of notice and assented to the petition, no such citation need issue. Such citation shall state that any objection must be made in writing and shall designate the date on or before which objections must be filed in the probate court. Such citation also shall state whether the hearing will take place on a certain date or be specially scheduled for a later date. With respect to all proceedings under this title, any such citation may state that if no objections are filed the petition may be granted without a hearing.
2. For purposes of this chapter, the words "citation" and "notice" shall have the same meaning unless the context otherwise requires.
3. Wherever appearing in this title with respect to proceedings in the probate court covered by this chapter:
   1. The terms "service of notice," "given notice," "due notice," "notified," and similar words and phrases of the same import shall mean service of petition and citation in a manner provided by applicable law, and shall include acknowledgment or waiver of such service and such service upon a guardian ad litem or other appropriate representative, unless the context otherwise requires;
   2. The terms "the official county newspaper," "the newspaper in which sheriff's advertisements are published," "the official newspaper of the county in which the petition is made," "the official newspaper of the county in which the personal representative qualified," and similar words and phrases of the same import shall mean the journal or newspaper qualified or designated as the official legal organ of the county of the probate court having jurisdiction in such proceeding pursuant to Code Section 9-13-142;
   3. The terms "published," "publication," "service by publication," "notice shall be published," and similar words and phrases of the same import shall mean publication in the official legal organ described in paragraph (2) of this subsection unless the context otherwise requires;
   4. The term "beneficiary" shall include devisee and legatee unless the context otherwise requires;
   5. Any hearing called for in any proceeding shall be within the court's sound discretion and shall not be required if no caveat or objection is timely filed and thereafter maintained unless the context otherwise requires; and
   6. Any requirement that no caveat or objection be filed:
      1. Shall be satisfied by the dismissal or withdrawal of all caveats or objections so filed unless the context otherwise requires; and
      2. May, in the court's sound discretion, be satisfied by the failure of any party served with notice to file a caveat or objection in a timely manner unless the context otherwise requires.

(Code 1981, §53-11-9, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1352, § 31; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1586, § 47; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-68/HB 865; Ga. L. 2021, p. 922, § 53/HB 497.)

The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in subsection (a), in the first sentence, inserted "by the court and", substituted "with notice or who otherwise are to be served with" for "or entitled to", inserted "that", substituted "such persons" for "parties", inserted "of notice", and inserted "such"; inserted "Such" for "The" in the second and third sentences, and substituted "any such citation" for "the citation, if any," in the last sentence; and added subsection (c).

The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "The terms" for "The term" at the beginning of paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(3).

- For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 313 (1997).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 80 Am. Jur. 2d, Wills, § 808 et seq.

- 95 C.J.S., Wills, §§ 545 et seq., 557.