2021 Georgia Code
Title 53 - Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
Chapter 6 - Administrators and Personal Representatives
Article 2 - Appointment
§ 53-6-15. Petition for Letters of Administration With Will Annexed

1. Every petition for letters of administration with the will annexed shall be made in accordance with the procedures set forth in Code Section 53-5-21 if the will has not yet been admitted to probate and shall include a prayer for issuance of letters of administration with the will annexed. Such petition shall set forth the names, addresses, and ages or majority status of the beneficiaries who are capable of expressing a choice, as defined in subsection (a) of Code Section 53-6-14, and the circumstances giving rise to the need for an administrator with the will annexed. Such petition and the citation issued thereon shall be served by the court on the beneficiaries of the will who are capable of expressing a choice in the manner provided by Chapter 11 of this title. If the petition for letters of administration with the will annexed is based upon the expiration of a reasonable time for any nominated executor to qualify, any nominated executor who has failed to qualify shall also be served with notice by the court in the manner provided by Chapter 11 of this title.
2. If the will has been admitted to probate, the petition for letters of administration with the will annexed shall set forth the names, addresses, and ages or majority status of the beneficiaries who are capable of expressing a choice, as described in subsection (a) of Code Section 53-6-14, the date on which the will was admitted to probate, and the circumstances giving rise to the need for an administrator with the will annexed. Such petition and the citation issued thereon shall be served by the court on the beneficiaries of the will and the personal representative, if any, of the estate of any deceased executor whose death created the vacancy in the manner provided by Chapter 11 of this title.
3. In the case of an estate partially administered and unrepresented because of the death of the previous executor, the judge shall determine whether the interest of the first estate and the persons interested in the first estate will best be served by the appointment of an administrator with the will annexed or of the executor, if any, appointed under the will of the deceased previous executor.

(Code 1981, §53-6-15, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1352, § 12; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1586, § 21; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-30/HB 865.)

The 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, in subsection (a), substituted "Such petition" for "The petition" at the beginning of the second and third sentences, in the third sentence, substituted "and the citation issued thereon shall be served by the court", for "shall be served"', and substituted "provided by Chapter 11" for "described in Chapter 11", and added "with notice by the court in the manner provided by Chapter 11 of this title" at the end of the last sentence; in subsection (b), in the last sentence, substituted "Such petition and the citation issued thereon shall be served by the court" for "The petition shall be served" substituted "personal representative, if any, of the estate of" for "executor, if any of", and substituted "provided by Chapter 11" for "described in Chapter 11"; and, in subsection (c), substituted "best be served" for "be best served" and inserted "of" preceding "the executor".

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