The Georgia Home After a Death

What “homestead” means in Georgia

In Georgia “homestead” is mostly a creditor's word, not an inheritance rule: a debtor's real or personal property is exempt from levy and sale up to $5,000, or $21,500 for the debtor's primary residence (O.C.G.A. § 44-13-1), and in bankruptcy up to $21,500 — $43,000 where title is in one of two spouses (§ 44-13-100(a)(1)); the property-tax homestead exemption is a county and Department of Revenue matter. Who inherits the home is decided by the will, the trust, the deed or intestacy, with the family's year's support preferred before most debts (§ 53-3-1).

Who gets the home

In Georgia the home passes like the decedent's other property — under the will or the trust, or by intestacy (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1(c)(1)) — subject to the family's year's support, which the probate court may set apart from the estate's property, the home included (O.C.G.A. § 53-3-1, § 53-3-5):

• With a will or a trust that disposes of the home, it passes as the instrument says — subject to the year's support a surviving spouse or minor child may petition for within 24 months of the death, which the probate court may set apart from the estate's property (O.C.G.A. § 53-3-1, § 53-3-5).
• Without one, the home passes by intestacy with the rest of the estate — to the surviving spouse alone where no descendant survives, otherwise to the spouse and the children in equal shares, the spouse taking no less than one-third and a deceased child's descendants taking that child's share (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1(c)(1); O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1(c)).
• A home owned with an express right of survivorship passes to the survivor outside the will (O.C.G.A. § 44-6-190); a home titled to a trustee passes by the trust's terms, the deed to the trustee having been recorded (§ 53-12-25).

Can the home be left by will or by trust? Yes

Georgia places no restriction on devising a home: the owner may leave it by will or by trust to anyone; the surviving spouse and minor children may petition for year's support, which is preferred before most debts and may be set apart from the home (O.C.G.A. § 53-3-1).

Creditors and the home after a death

After the owner's death, the home is part of the estate — or the trust — that answers for the decedent's debts: the property of a trust that was revocable at the death answers for the claims of the creditors of the settlor's estate to the extent the probate estate is inadequate (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-82), while year's support for the spouse and minor children is preferred before most debts (§ 53-3-1) and a primary residence is exempt from levy and sale up to the amount § 44-13-1 states. Liens and mortgages on the home still apply. Whether particular property is reachable is fact-specific attorney territory.

Property taxes

Georgia values property for tax each year through the county boards of assessors, and no statute in the Georgia statute library reassesses a home because it changed hands at a death; a transfer to a trust is not itself a taxable event. A new owner reviews any homestead exemption with the county tax commissioner or assessor, who determines the effect. A Georgia attorney can confirm what applies.

What should happen next?

Outcomes turn on facts: who survived, how the deed reads, whether minors are involved, and whether a year's-support petition is filed within 24 months of the death (O.C.G.A. § 53-3-5). This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check shows you where you stand, and a Georgia attorney can confirm how the home passes in your situation.

General information about Georgia law, not legal advice.