Who does a Georgia successor trustee notify?

The qualified beneficiaries — the current distributees and permissible distributees of income or principal, and those who would be if the current interests ended or the trust terminated that day (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(10)) — within 60 days after the trust became irrevocable, of the trust's existence and the trustee's name and mailing address (§ 53-12-242). Georgia has no acceptance notice.

Is a Georgia successor trustee paid?

As the instrument or an agreement with the settlor provides; absent both, by an agreement with the qualified beneficiaries or one the court approves; otherwise by the statutory default — one percent of principal received plus the graduated annual fee for an individual trustee, or a corporate trustee's reasonable schedule (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-210), apportioned by time served (§ 53-12-211).

Can a Georgia trustee resign?

Yes, as the instrument provides, on at least 30 days' written notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living and all cotrustees, or by petition; where a vacancy must be filled, the resignation takes effect only when the successor accepts (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-220).

Is a Georgia successor trustee responsible for what the predecessor did?

Only where the successor knew or should have known of a breach and let it continue, neglected to take reasonable steps to compel the predecessor to deliver the trust property, or neglected to redress a known breach; a successor to a trustee who was also the settlor has no duty to sue the settlor-trustee as to the revocable portion (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-304). A successor's claim against the predecessor is barred two years after taking office (§ 53-12-307(b)).

Georgia Successor Trustee: Accepting the Role

The short answer · 10 min read

A Georgia successor trustee takes office by accepting — by the trust's method or by acting as trustee (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-202) — and then administers the trust in good faith, in accordance with its provisions and purposes (§ 53-12-240). Within 60 days after the trust became irrevocable, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of its existence and the trustee's name and mailing address (§ 53-12-242); no notice runs from the acceptance.

Last reviewed against the Georgia Statutes and updated on 2026-10-14.

What "successor trustee" means in Georgia

A successor trustee is the person the trust names to serve when the current trustee stops — at the settlor-trustee's death, resignation or incapacity, or another vacancy. A vacancy occurs when a designated trustee rejects the trusteeship, cannot be identified or located or does not exist, has a guardian or conservator appointed, is disqualified or removed, resigns or dies, or for any other reason no one is serving (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-201(c)); unless the instrument provides otherwise, a vacancy need not be filled while a cotrustee remains (§ 53-12-201(d)). A trust never fails for want of a trustee (§ 53-12-201(b)).

The Georgia Trust Code is O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapter 12 — the Revised Georgia Trust Code of 2010, as 2025 HB 327 amended it (§ 53-12-1). It is Georgia's own statute, not the Uniform Trust Code: the common law and equity remain beside it (§ 53-12-3), and the instrument may vary it except for the rules § 53-12-7 names. Actions concerning the construction or administration of a trust go to the superior court, or to the probate court in the counties whose probate court is an Article 6 court (§ 53-12-6; § 15-9-127); no court supervises an administration no one has brought before it.

Taking office: accepting, rejecting, and preserving

Acceptance is necessary to constitute a person as trustee, and it may be effected by acts as well as words. A designated trustee accepts by substantially complying with a method the trust instrument provides or — where the instrument provides none, or the method is not expressly made exclusive — by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-202(b)). After accepting, the trustee may not decline (§ 53-12-202(a)).

A person designated as trustee may act to preserve the trust property without accepting, if the person rejects or declines the trusteeship as soon as practicable (§ 53-12-202(c)). Georgia has no deemed rejection after a reasonable time: silence is neither acceptance nor rejection, and taking the property or exercising a power can be acceptance by conduct. The date you accepted, and how, belong in your record.

The notice: 60 days, counted from the trust becoming irrevocable

Within 60 days after the date of creation of an irrevocable trust, or the date on which a revocable trust becomes irrevocable — for most living trusts, the day the settlor died — the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the existence of the trust and of the name and mailing address of the trustee (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-242(a)). The clock is the event's, not the trustee's knowledge of it and not the acceptance: a successor who accepts late still counts from the death. Irrevocable trusts in existence on July 1, 2010 are deemed to have waived the notice unless the instrument says otherwise (§ 53-12-242(b)).

Georgia has no acceptance notice. The qualified beneficiaries are, on the date of determination, each distributee or permissible distributee of income or principal, each person who would be one if the current interests ended that day without ending the trust, and each person who would be one if the trust terminated that day (§ 53-12-2(10)); notice to a person who may represent and bind a beneficiary — a conservator, a guardian, an agent, a person the instrument designates, an ancestor for a minor or unborn descendant — has the effect of notice to the beneficiary (§ 53-12-8). The notice is sent in a manner likely to result in receipt (§ 53-12-511).

The duties that come with the role

The statutes describe what a trustee owes:

Good faith, in accordance with the trust's provisions and purposes (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-240) — a rule the instrument cannot vary (§ 53-12-7).
Prudent administration: the judgment and care of a prudent person familiar with such matters (§ 53-12-241), and the prudent investor rule for investments (§ 53-12-340), with a review of the assets within a reasonable time after accepting (§ 53-12-342).
Loyalty: the trust is administered solely in the interests of the beneficiaries, with the fair agreements and compensation § 53-12-246 allows; a trustee who is also a beneficiary does not make discretionary distributions to themselves except under an ascertainable standard (§ 53-12-270).
Impartiality among the beneficiaries, with due regard to income and remainder interests, unless the instrument clearly favors someone (§ 53-12-247).
The report of information on a qualified beneficiary's reasonable request, including the trust provisions that describe or affect the beneficiary's interest (§ 53-12-243(a)).
An accounting at least annually, at termination and on a change of trustees, to each beneficiary to whom income or principal may be distributed during the period and to any person who may revoke (§ 53-12-243(b)); net income distributed at least annually (§ 53-12-244).
As a successor: reasonable steps to compel the predecessor to deliver the trust property and to redress a breach the successor knows or should know of (§ 53-12-304).

First steps before acting

Read the trust and every amendment; note the trustee provisions, any trust director, and the distribution terms. List the property by how it is titled — a conveyance of real property to a trust of which the settlor is a trustee was recorded (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-25(b)), and a certification of trust under § 53-12-280 is what a bank or a title company may ask for. Record the date of death, the date you accepted and the beneficiaries the instrument names before anything is sent or paid.

Georgia trustee deadlines: what the statutes provide

Reviewed against the Georgia Statutes on 2026-10-14. General information, not legal advice; the official text controls.

When	Timing	What the statute provides	To whom	Statute
You are named trustee and act on it	No day-count. Acceptance is by the instrument's method or by conduct; no notice runs from it.	Accept by substantially complying with a method the trust instrument provides or, where it provides none or the method is not expressly exclusive, by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance; a designee may act to preserve the property without accepting if the person rejects as soon as practicable. After accepting, the trustee may not decline.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-202 ↗
You accept	At once and throughout; no day-count.	Administer the trust in good faith, in accordance with its provisions and purposes; the statutory duties add to the common law's.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-240 ↗
You accept as successor	At once and throughout; no day-count.	Take reasonable steps to compel the predecessor trustee to deliver the trust property and to redress a breach you know or reasonably should know the predecessor committed — the acts a successor answers for; a successor to a trustee who was also the settlor has no duty to sue the settlor-trustee as to the portion the settlor could revoke.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-304 ↗
You accept, or receive trust assets	Within a reasonable time after accepting the trusteeship or receiving the assets; no day-count.	Review the trust assets and make and implement decisions on their retention and disposition, to bring the portfolio into compliance with the trust's purposes, provisions, distribution requirements and circumstances and with the prudent investor rule (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-340); manage the risk of concentrated holdings (§ 53-12-341).	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-342 ↗
You accept	Throughout; no day-count.	Keep the records the accounting presupposes — receipts and disbursements of principal and income, and the assets and liabilities at each period's end. Georgia has no recordkeeping section of its own; the accounting's contents and the common law set the practice.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b)(2) ↗
The trust becomes irrevocable — the settlor dies, for most living trusts — or an irrevocable trust is created	Within 60 days after the date the trust became irrevocable or was created — counted from the event, not from your knowledge of it and not from your acceptance.	Notify the qualified beneficiaries of the existence of the trust and of the trustee's name and mailing address. Irrevocable trusts in existence on July 1, 2010 are deemed to have waived the notice unless the instrument says otherwise (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-242(b)). Georgia has no acceptance notice.	The qualified beneficiaries (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(10)) — or a person who may represent and bind a beneficiary (§ 53-12-8), by a method likely to result in receipt — personal delivery, registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, a consented electronic address, or a portal on the statute's conditions (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-511)	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-242(a) ↗
A qualified beneficiary reasonably asks	On reasonable request; no day-count.	Provide a report of information, to the extent relevant to that beneficiary's interest, about the assets, liabilities, receipts and disbursements of the trust, the acts of the trustee and the particulars of the administration, including the trust provisions that describe or affect the beneficiary's interest — unless the trust provisions or the settlor's delivered writing provide otherwise (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(d)).	The requesting qualified beneficiary	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(a) ↗
Each year of the administration, once the trust is irrevocable	At least annually; the statute sets the cadence, not a calendar date.	Account — a statement of receipts and disbursements of principal and income during the last complete fiscal year or since the last accounting to that beneficiary, and a statement of the assets and liabilities at the period's end. While the settlor who reserved the power of revocation is alive and the power is unreleased, the duties run to the settlor alone and the annual accounting is off (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-46).	Each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized to be distributed during the period, and any person who may revoke the trust (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b)(1)), unless a written waiver stands or the trust provisions or the settlor's delivered writing provide otherwise, by a method likely to result in receipt — personal delivery, registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, a consented electronic address, or a portal on the statute's conditions (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-511)	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b) ↗
The trust terminates	At the termination; no day-count.	Account for the final period, including a termination on the period's last day, with the same two statements; distribute under the trust provisions, subject to the contest period and a contestant's notice (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-45(b)). Georgia has no distribution-upon-termination section, no statutory reserve and no proposal-and-objection procedure.	Each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized to be distributed during the period, and any person who may revoke the trust (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b)(1)), unless a written waiver stands or the trust provisions or the settlor's delivered writing provide otherwise	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b) ↗
A change of trustees	On the change; no day-count.	Account for the period to the beneficiaries in the distribution class and to the successor trustee, with the same two statements. A successor's claim against the predecessor is barred two years after the successor takes office (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-307(b)).	Each beneficiary to whom income or principal is required or authorized to be distributed during the period, and any person who may revoke the trust (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b)(1)), unless a written waiver stands or the trust provisions or the settlor's delivered writing provide otherwise; and the successor trustee	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b) ↗
A beneficiary waives the accounting in writing, or withdraws a waiver	While the waiver stands; a withdrawal restores the right for the future. No day-count.	No report or accounting is owed to a beneficiary who has waived the right in writing and has not withdrawn the waiver, or to the unascertainable charitable beneficiaries of a noncharitable trust; the court may still require or excuse an accounting (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(e)).	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(c) ↗
Each year of the administration	At least annually; the statute sets the cadence, not a calendar date.	Distribute all net income derived from the trust at least annually, as the trust provisions and the Principal and Income Act allocate it (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-360); no duty to investigate a beneficiary's resources before distributing (§ 53-12-245).	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-244 ↗
You decide to resign without the instrument's method or a petition	At least 30 days' written notice before; where a vacancy must be filled, the resignation is effective only when the successor accepts.	Give written notice of the resignation; resignation does not relieve liability for prior acts, and the resigning trustee remains liable until the successor accepts where a vacancy must be filled. A petition to the court is served on all qualified beneficiaries.	The qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living, and all cotrustees (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-220(a)(2))	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-220 ↗
You accept	A petition is possible any time after 12 months from the acceptance, and not more often than once every 12 months — optional.	A trustee may petition the court to approve an interim accounting relieving the trustee from liability for the period, with the schedules the section lists, served on the beneficiaries; a final accounting may be required or approved on resignation, removal, death or termination (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-231).	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-230 ↗
The settlor of a revocable trust dies	A contest is commenced within two years of the death; a contestant's written notice is followed by a proceeding within 60 days after it was sent.	The trustee may proceed to distribute under the trust provisions after the death, without liability for doing so unless the trustee knows of a pending contest or a potential contestant's written notice is followed by a proceeding within 60 days; a beneficiary of a trust determined invalid returns any distribution. A response clock — shown, never a statement that a distribution is safe.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-45 ↗
A written report that adequately disclosed a claim was sent to a beneficiary	Two years after the date the beneficiary was sent the report.	A beneficiary's claim for breach of trust is barred unless a proceeding is commenced within the two years; a report adequately discloses a claim if it provides sufficient information so that the beneficiary knows of the claim or reasonably should have inquired. A rule the instrument cannot vary (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-7(a)(6)). Whether a report adequately disclosed a claim is explained, never decided.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-307(a) ↗
No adequately disclosing report was sent	Six years after the beneficiary discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the subject of the claim.	Without a report that adequately disclosed the claim, the claim is barred unless a proceeding is commenced within the six years; a successor's claim against a predecessor within two years after taking office, and a trustee's claim against a cotrustee within two years after it arises (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-307(b), (c)).	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-307(a) ↗
You notify a person that a notice or record is available in an electronic portal	At least 90 days after the notification: the person's access is not terminated without consent and the record remains available.	A portal delivery is presumed likely to result in receipt only where the person was granted access and informed that notices and records will be made available there, the record is made available and can be downloaded or otherwise preserved outside the portal, the person is notified of it, and the 90 days of access and availability run; an objection to electronic delivery defeats the presumption.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-511(c)(4) ↗
A record sent solely through a portal that disclosed a claim disappears, or the person's access ends without consent	Within 30 days after the event, notice of an alternative means to obtain the record avoids the tolling.	The limitation period of O.C.G.A. § 53-12-307 is tolled where a record sent solely by portal disclosed a claim and access ends without consent or the record is no longer available, unless within 30 days the beneficiary is notified of an alternative means to obtain it; the period recommences when the record is resent.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-511(d) ↗
You consider compensation	Before any fee is taken; no day-count. The statute's branches apply in order.	Compensation is as the trust instrument or a written agreement with the settlor provides; absent both, by an agreement with all the qualified beneficiaries or one the court approves; otherwise a corporate trustee's reasonable published schedule, and for an individual trustee one percent of principal received plus an annual fee on the principal's value at the accounting year's end — 1.75 percent of the first $500,000, $8,750 plus 1.25 percent to $1 million, $15,000 plus 1.00 percent to $2 million, $25,000 plus 0.85 percent to $5 million, $50,500 plus 0.50 percent above — prorated by the service in the year. Apportionment among trustees and successors is by time served (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-211); extra compensation by petition (§ 53-12-212).	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-210 ↗
A trustee with discretion to distribute principal proposes a distribution to a second trust	The notice is delivered at least 30 days before the proposed distribution.	Unless the original instrument expressly provides otherwise, the trustee may distribute all or part of the principal to a second trust, independently or with court approval, within the section's limits, by an instrument signed and acknowledged by the trustee and filed with the original trust's records.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-62 ↗
A trustee mails notice of a conversion to a unitrust	A beneficiary's written objection within 60 days after the notice was mailed prevents the conversion.	Unless the instrument expressly prohibits it, a trustee may release the power to adjust and convert the trust into a unitrust on written notice to the settlor if living, the current income beneficiaries and the remainder beneficiaries, with no written objection within the 60 days and the section's further conditions.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-362 ↗
The trust is worth less than $100,000, or the annual fee is 5 percent or more of its value	After notice to the qualified beneficiaries; no day-count.	The trustee may terminate the trust on concluding that the value of the trust property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration, and distributes the property consistently with the trust's purposes; the court may modify or terminate a trust or replace the trustee on the same finding.	The qualified beneficiaries (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(10)) — or a person who may represent and bind a beneficiary (§ 53-12-8)	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-65 ↗
A bank, buyer, title company or custodian asks for the trust	No day-count.	The trustee may present a certification of trust in lieu of the instrument: the trust's existence and date, each settlor, each current trustee and how many must act, the relevant powers and their limits, revocability, how property is titled, and that the transaction needs no other consent — signed by each trustee, stating that the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in a way that would make it incorrect; recordable with the clerk of superior court.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-12-280 ↗
You hold the original will of a person who has died	With reasonable promptness; no day-count.	File the will with the probate court of the county having jurisdiction; the court may attach for contempt and fine or imprison a person withholding a will until it is delivered.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-5-5 ↗Related estate
A personal representative qualifies	Within six months after the qualification, unless the will provides otherwise or the court relieves the requirement.	The personal representative files an inventory of all the decedent's property with the probate court and mails a copy to the beneficiaries or heirs; the court may extend the time for good cause.	The probate court; the beneficiaries of a testate estate or the heirs of an intestate estate, by first-class mail	O.C.G.A. § 53-7-30 ↗Related estate
Each anniversary of the personal representative's qualification	Within 60 days of the anniversary, each year.	The personal representative files a verified accounting of the year's receipts and expenditures with an updated inventory, with the vouchers or an affidavit of their comparison; the court may change the reporting period.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-7-67 ↗Related estate
A personal representative qualifies	Within 60 days of qualification; once a week for four weeks in the county's official newspaper. Creditors have three months from the last publication; the representative has six months from the first qualification to ascertain the estate's condition.	The personal representative publishes a notice directed to all creditors to notify the representative of their claims; a creditor who fails to give notice within the three months loses equal participation with creditors of equal priority to whom distribution is made before notification. The trust answers for the estate's creditors to the extent the probate estate is inadequate (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-82(a)(2)(C)); claims rank by § 53-7-40.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-7-41 ↗Related estate
A person dies leaving a surviving spouse or a minor child	The petition is filed within 24 months of the death.	The surviving spouse, or a guardian or other person acting for the spouse or a minor child, may petition the probate court for year's support — property for 12 months' support and maintenance, preferred before all other debts or demands (O.C.G.A. § 53-3-1) — which the court sets apart (§ 53-3-7). Georgia has no elective share.	—	O.C.G.A. § 53-3-5 ↗Related estate
The trust's tax year ends	By the fiduciary return's due date for the tax year, with the federal Form 1041's timing; the 2026 edition is read when published.	File the trust's Georgia fiduciary income tax return where the trust has Georgia taxable income; the rate is 4.99 percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-20 as 2026 HB 463 amended it). Georgia has no estate or inheritance tax (§ 48-12-1).	—	Georgia Form 501 ↗
The settlor dies with a gross estate above the federal exclusion	Nine months after the death (a six-month extension is available).	File the federal estate tax return where the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts exceeds the exclusion, or to elect portability of a deceased spouse's unused exclusion. Georgia levies no estate tax of its own.	—	IRS Form 706 ↗Federal
The trust's tax year ends	The 15th day of the fourth month after year-end (April 15 for a calendar-year trust).	File the trust's income tax return and issue a Schedule K-1 to each beneficiary who received distributable income.	—	IRS Form 1041 ↗Federal

Cotrustees and the directed trust

A power vested in two or more trustees is exercised only by their unanimous action; a cotrustee may delegate ministerial acts to another; the remaining cotrustees act during a vacancy or a cotrustee's temporary inability (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-204). Georgia has no majority rule. A trustee is liable for a cotrustee's breach only where the trustee participated in it, improperly delegated, approved or concealed it, negligently enabled it, or neglected to compel its redress (§ 53-12-305). Where the instrument gives a trust director a power of direction, the directed trustee takes reasonable action to comply and is not liable for it unless compliance would clearly constitute an act committed in bad faith; except as the instrument provides, the trustee has no duty to monitor or advise the director (§ 53-12-504).

Resigning, being removed, and the vacancy

A trustee may resign as the instrument provides, on at least 30 days' written notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living and all cotrustees, or by a petition to the court served on all qualified beneficiaries; resignation does not relieve liability for prior acts, and where it would create a vacancy that must be filled, it is not effective until the successor accepts (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-220). The court may remove a trustee for a serious breach, lack of cooperation among cotrustees, unfitness or persistent failure, a substantial change of circumstances, or at all the qualified beneficiaries' request on the statute's findings (§ 53-12-221). A vacancy that must be filled is filled by the person the instrument designates, then as it provides, then by the qualified beneficiaries' unanimous agreement, then by the court on an interested person's petition (§ 53-12-201(e)).

Compensation, the accounting, and the ways trustees get into trouble

Trustees are compensated as the instrument or a written agreement with the settlor provides; absent both, by an agreement with all the qualified beneficiaries or one the court approves; otherwise by the statute — a corporate trustee's reasonable published schedule, or for an individual one percent of principal received plus the graduated annual fee (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-210), apportioned among trustees and successors by time served (§ 53-12-211). Expenses properly incurred are reimbursed (§ 53-12-213). A breach of trust — the violation of any duty owed to a beneficiary (§ 53-12-300) — carries the remedies of § 53-12-301 and the damages of § 53-12-302; a beneficiary's claim is barred two years after the beneficiary was sent a written report that adequately disclosed it, and otherwise six years after discovery (§ 53-12-307).

When a licensed Georgia attorney is the right next call

TrusteeClear explains the role and organizes the record; it does not decide who is a qualified beneficiary, who is in the distribution class for a period, whether the instrument or the settlor's writing varies a duty, or how a power of direction divides the work, and it reviews nothing you prepare. A licensed Georgia attorney of your choosing can advise on those questions, on a contest or a creditor's claim, and on whether to petition the court for an interim accounting (§ 53-12-230) or instructions.

Key Georgia Trust Code provisions

Appointment and vacancies
O.C.G.A. § 53-12-201 ↗
Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Acceptance
O.C.G.A. § 53-12-202 ↗
Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Duties generally
O.C.G.A. § 53-12-240 ↗
Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Duty to inform as to existence of trust
O.C.G.A. § 53-12-242 ↗
Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.

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General information about Georgia law, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

How does a successor trustee accept a Georgia trust?: By substantially complying with the method the trust instrument provides or, where it provides none or the method is not exclusive, by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-202). A designee may preserve the property without accepting if the person rejects as soon as practicable.
Who does a Georgia successor trustee notify?: The qualified beneficiaries — the current distributees and permissible distributees of income or principal, and those who would be if the current interests ended or the trust terminated that day (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(10)) — within 60 days after the trust became irrevocable, of the trust's existence and the trustee's name and mailing address (§ 53-12-242). Georgia has no acceptance notice.
Is a Georgia successor trustee paid?: As the instrument or an agreement with the settlor provides; absent both, by an agreement with the qualified beneficiaries or one the court approves; otherwise by the statutory default — one percent of principal received plus the graduated annual fee for an individual trustee, or a corporate trustee's reasonable schedule (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-210), apportioned by time served (§ 53-12-211).
Can a Georgia trustee resign?: Yes, as the instrument provides, on at least 30 days' written notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor if living and all cotrustees, or by petition; where a vacancy must be filled, the resignation takes effect only when the successor accepts (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-220).
Is a Georgia successor trustee responsible for what the predecessor did?: Only where the successor knew or should have known of a breach and let it continue, neglected to take reasonable steps to compel the predecessor to deliver the trust property, or neglected to redress a known breach; a successor to a trustee who was also the settlor has no duty to sue the settlor-trustee as to the revocable portion (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-304). A successor's claim against the predecessor is barred two years after taking office (§ 53-12-307(b)).