Tèm trust Georgia yo, defini

Verifye ak Georgia Statutes yo nan dat 2026-10-14. Enfòmasyon jeneral, pa konsèy legal; tèks ofisyèl la ki kòmande.

Georgia Trust Code

Georgia's own trust statute — the Revised Georgia Trust Code of 2010, O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapter 12, as 2025 HB 327 amended it (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-1). It is not the Uniform Trust Code: it supplements the common law and equity (§ 53-12-3), its instrument may vary it except for the rules § 53-12-7 names, and its notices, accountings and limitation periods are its own. Gid: Devwa administratè siksesè Georgia apre yon lanmò

Superior court

The court of the construction and administration of a trust and of every action the Georgia Trust Code authorizes (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-6(b)); trusts are peculiarly subjects of equity jurisdiction (§ 53-12-6(a)). In a county whose probate court is an Article 6 probate court — a county of more than 90,000 whose judge has practiced law for at least seven years (§ 15-9-120) — the probate court has concurrent jurisdiction over actions concerning trusts, trustees and trust directors (§ 15-9-127(a)(4)).

Article 6 probate court

The probate court of a county of more than 90,000 people whose judge has been admitted to the practice of law for at least seven years (O.C.G.A. § 15-9-120); it has concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court over declaratory judgments involving fiduciaries, settlement agreements under § 53-12-9, actions concerning trusts, trustees and trust directors, and petitions to construe a will or trust instrument (§ 15-9-127). Twenty-eight counties have one.

Settlor

The person who creates the trust, including a testator in the case of a testamentary trust (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(11)); a "donor" is the person who contributes property to the trust, and where a person holds a power to revoke, that person (§ 53-12-2(2.1)).

Trustee

The person who holds and administers the trust property. On accepting a trusteeship, a trustee administers the trust in good faith, in accordance with its provisions and purposes (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-240(b)), with the judgment and care of a prudent person familiar with such matters (§ 53-12-241). An individual is eligible regardless of citizenship or residency (§ 53-12-200). Gid: Devwa administratè siksesè Georgia apre yon lanmò

Successor trustee

The trustee who takes over when a vacancy occurs — a designated trustee rejects, cannot be found, has a guardian or conservator appointed, is disqualified or removed, resigns or dies (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-201(c)). A vacancy that must be filled is filled by the person the instrument designates, then as the instrument provides, then by the qualified beneficiaries' unanimous agreement, then by the court (§ 53-12-201(e)); a successor has all the authority of the original trustee (§ 53-12-201(h)). Gid: Trustee siksesè nan Jòji: aksepte wòl la

Acceptance of the trusteeship

Necessary to constitute a person as trustee and effected by acts as well as words: by substantially complying with the instrument's method or, where none is exclusive, by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-202). A designee may preserve the property without accepting if the person rejects as soon as practicable. No notice runs from the acceptance in Georgia. Gid: Trustee siksesè nan Jòji: aksepte wòl la

Letters of trusteeship

The Georgia Trust Code provides none for the trustee of a living trust: the trustee administers under the instrument and the statute, and presents a certification of trust to third parties in lieu of the instrument (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-280); a court is involved only when a party invokes it (§ 53-12-6).

Beneficiary

A person for whose benefit property is held in trust, regardless of the nature of the interest — vested or contingent, born or unborn, ascertained or unascertained (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(2)).

Qualified beneficiary

A living individual or existing person who, on the date of determination, is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal; would be one if the current distributees' interests ended that day without ending the trust; or would be one if the trust terminated that day (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-2(10)). The existence notice goes to them (§ 53-12-242), and they consent to a trustee's compensation agreement (§ 53-12-210) and appoint a successor when the instrument does not (§ 53-12-201).

Representation

Notice to a person who may represent and bind another has the effect of notice to the other (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-8(a)): absent a conflict, a conservator, a guardian, an agent, a trustee for the beneficiaries, a person the instrument designates to receive notice for a beneficiary, a personal representative, and an ancestor for a minor or unborn descendant; a person with a substantially identical interest may represent a minor, incapacitated, unborn or unascertainable person; the court may appoint a representative (§ 53-12-8).

Revocable trust

A trust whose settlor expressly reserved the power to revoke it — without an express reservation a settlor has no power to modify or revoke (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-40(a)); a power to revoke includes a power to modify, and a revocation or modification is in a signed writing (§ 53-12-40). While the settlor is alive and the power unreleased, the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to the settlor (§ 53-12-46(a)(1)). Gid: Trust revokab vivan Jòji a, esplike

Irrevocable trust

A trust that cannot be revoked — because no power was reserved, or because the settlor has died. Within 60 days after the date of creation of an irrevocable trust, or the date a revocable trust becomes irrevocable, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of its existence (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-242(a)); the accounting duty of § 53-12-243(b) runs to the beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust. Gid: Trust irevokab Georgia, eksplike

Notice of the trust's existence

Georgia's one trustee notice: within 60 days after the date of creation of an irrevocable trust or the date on which a revocable trust becomes irrevocable, notice to the qualified beneficiaries of the existence of the trust and the name and mailing address of the trustee (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-242(a)). Counted from the event, not from the trustee's knowledge of it and not from an acceptance; irrevocable trusts in existence on July 1, 2010 are deemed to have waived it unless the instrument says otherwise (§ 53-12-242(b)). Gid: Administratè siksesè apre yon lanmò nan Georgia: premye etap

Accounting

What a trustee furnishes at least annually, at the trust's termination and on a change of trustees to each beneficiary of an irrevocable trust to whom income or principal is required or authorized to be distributed during the period, and to any person who may revoke the trust: a statement of receipts and disbursements of principal and income for the last complete fiscal year or since the last accounting, and a statement of the assets and liabilities at the period's end (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(b)). On a change of trustees the trustee also accounts to the successor. Gid: Egzijans kontablite trust nan Georgia

Report of information

What a trustee provides on a qualified beneficiary's reasonable request: 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 (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(a)). Gid: Egzijans kontablite trust nan Georgia

Waiver of the accounting

A beneficiary who has waived in writing the right to a report or accounting, and has not withdrawn the waiver, receives none (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-243(c)(1)); the reporting duties do not apply to the extent the trust provisions provide otherwise or the settlor directed otherwise in a writing delivered to the trustee (§ 53-12-243(d)); the court may still require or excuse an accounting (§ 53-12-243(e)). Gid: Egzijans kontablite trust nan Georgia

Interim accounting (court)

At any time following 12 months from the acceptance, but not more often than once every 12 months, a trustee may petition the court to approve an interim accounting relieving the trustee from liability for the period covered, with the schedules § 53-12-230(b) lists, served on the beneficiaries; a final accounting may be required or approved on resignation, removal, death or termination (O.C.G.A. §§ 53-12-230, 53-12-231).

Certification of trust

A statement the trustee may present to any person other than a beneficiary in lieu of the trust 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, without the dispositive provisions (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-280). A recipient may require the excerpts that designate the trustee and confer the power; it may be recorded with the clerk of superior court. Gid: Pouvwa trustee nan Jòji (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-261)

Person designated to receive notice

A person the trust instrument designates to receive notice and provide consent on behalf of a beneficiary, who may represent and bind that beneficiary absent a conflict of interest (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-8(f)(6)).

Duty to avoid conflicts of interest

A trustee administers the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-246(a)); an agreement with a beneficiary on the trustee's appointment or compensation, reasonable compensation, and reasonable compensation for services to an enterprise the trust owns an interest in are not precluded if fair to the beneficiaries (§ 53-12-246(b)). Gid: Devwa administratè siksesè Georgia apre yon lanmò

Prudent administration

The judgment and care of a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters, considering the purposes, provisions, distribution requirements and other circumstances of the trust (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-241(a)); investment and management under the prudent investor rule (§ 53-12-241(b)). Gid: Devwa administratè siksesè Georgia apre yon lanmò

Prudent investor rule

Article 16 of the Georgia Trust Code: a trustee invests and manages trust assets as a prudent investor would, considering the trust's purposes, provisions, distribution requirements and circumstances, with reasonable care, skill and caution, judging each decision in the context of the portfolio as a whole (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-340); manages the risk of concentrated holdings (§ 53-12-341); reviews the assets within a reasonable time after accepting (§ 53-12-342); and is judged without hindsight (§ 53-12-343). Gid: Pouvwa trustee nan Jòji (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-261)

Impartiality

Except where the instrument clearly manifests an intention to favor one or more beneficiaries, a trustee administers the trust impartially, based on what is fair and reasonable to all the beneficiaries and with due regard to the respective interests of income and remainder beneficiaries (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-247). Gid: Devwa administratè siksesè Georgia apre yon lanmò

Delegation

A trustee may delegate investment and management functions a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate, exercising reasonable care, skill and caution in selecting the agent, setting the scope and terms of the delegation, and reviewing the agent's actions periodically (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-345); a cotrustee may delegate ministerial acts to another cotrustee (§ 53-12-204(1)). Gid: Pouvwa trustee nan Jòji (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-261)

Cotrustees

Trustees serving together. 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). A trustee is liable for a cotrustee's breach only as § 53-12-305 provides. Gid: Trustee siksesè nan Jòji: aksepte wòl la

Directed trust

A trust whose instrument gives a trust director a power of direction (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-500). A directed trustee takes reasonable action to comply with the director's exercise or nonexercise of the power and is not liable for it unless compliance would clearly constitute an act committed in bad faith (§ 53-12-504(a)); except as the instrument provides, the trustee has no duty to monitor or advise the director (§ 53-12-504(f)).

Trust director

A person the trust instrument grants a power of direction over the administration, investment, management or distribution of the trust (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-500), whatever the instrument calls the office (§ 53-12-501). A director has the fiduciary duty and liability of a trustee in a like position (§ 53-12-503(a)), and the trustee rules on jurisdiction, office, compensation, resignation, removal and accounting apply to a director (§ 53-12-506).

Trustee compensation

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 — 1.75 percent of the first $500,000, then $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, and $50,500 plus 0.50 percent above — prorated by the trustee's service in the year (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-210). Gid: Konpansasyon trustee nan Jòji (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-210)

Spendthrift provision

A provision valid only if it prohibits both voluntary and involuntary transfers of a beneficiary's interest; words that the interest is held subject to a spendthrift trust suffice (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-80). It does not defeat claims for alimony or child support, taxes and governmental claims, tort judgments, criminal restitution or necessaries against a current distribution (§ 53-12-80(d)). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Georgia: baz yo

Discretionary distribution

An amount payable only in the discretion of the trustee or a trust director; a transferee or creditor of the beneficiary cannot compel it, whether or not the discretion is expressed as a standard and whether or not the trustee is also a beneficiary — except as to the portion of which the beneficiary is the donor (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-81). A trustee exercises a discretionary power in good faith however broad the grant (§ 53-12-260). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Georgia: baz yo

The settlor's creditors

During the settlor's lifetime, the property of a trust revocable by the settlor is subject to the settlor's creditors; a creditor of the donor of an irrevocable trust may reach the maximum amount distributable to the donor; after the death, property of a trust revocable at the death is subject to 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(a)(2)). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Georgia: baz yo

Nonjudicial settlement agreement

A binding agreement the trustee, any trust director and all persons whose interests would be affected may enter into on any matter involving the trust, valid only to the extent it does not violate a material purpose and includes terms the court could approve; the court may be asked to approve it or to determine whether the representation was adequate (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-9).

Decanting

A trustee's distribution of all or part of the principal of an original trust to a second trust under the trustee's discretionary authority to distribute income or principal — independently or with court approval, unless the instrument expressly provides otherwise — on notice delivered at least 30 days before the proposed distribution and within the section's limits (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-62).

Unitrust conversion

A trustee's release of the power to adjust and conversion of the trust into a unitrust, unless the instrument expressly prohibits it, on written notice of the intention and of how the unitrust will operate to the settlor if living, the current income beneficiaries and the remainder beneficiaries, with no beneficiary objecting in writing within 60 days after the notice was mailed (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-362); the power to adjust is § 53-12-361.

Uneconomic trust

After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust worth less than $100,000, or whose annual trustee's fee is 5 percent or more of the principal's value at the preceding accounting year's end, may terminate it on concluding that the value is insufficient to justify the cost of administration; the court may modify or terminate a trust or replace the trustee on the same finding (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-65). Gid: Fèmen yon trust nan Georgia: etap final administratè a

Modification or termination by the court

During the settlor's lifetime, the court approves a modification or termination of an irrevocable trust the settlor and all qualified beneficiaries consent to; after the death, one all qualified beneficiaries consent to that is not inconsistent with a material purpose; and on petition the court may modify for unanticipated circumstances, modify administrative provisions, modify for tax objectives, divide or consolidate trusts, or terminate a trust whose costs defeat its purposes or whose purpose is fulfilled, illegal or impossible (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-61). Gid: Fèmen yon trust nan Georgia: etap final administratè a

Resignation of the trustee

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 petition to the court; where the resignation would create a vacancy that must be filled, it is not effective until the successor trustee accepts, and the resigning trustee remains liable until then (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-220). Gid: Trustee siksesè nan Jòji: aksepte wòl la

Removal of the trustee

By the instrument, or by the court on an interested person's petition or its own motion for a serious breach of trust, lack of cooperation among cotrustees that impairs the administration, unfitness or persistent failure to administer effectively, a substantial change of circumstances, or all the qualified beneficiaries' request — the last two where removal best serves the beneficiaries, is consistent with a material purpose and a suitable successor is available (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-221).

Breach of trust

A trustee's violation of any duty owed to the beneficiary (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-300). A beneficiary may seek damages, compel performance, require an accounting, enjoin the breach, compel redress, obtain a temporary trustee or a suspension, remove the trustee, and reduce or deny compensation (§ 53-12-301); the trustee is chargeable with the resulting loss, any profit and what would have accrued, with interest (§ 53-12-302); an instrument cannot relieve bad faith or reckless indifference (§ 53-12-303).

A successor's liability for a predecessor

A successor trustee is liable for a predecessor's acts 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)). Gid: Trustee siksesè nan Jòji: aksepte wòl la

Limitation period (claims against a trustee)

A beneficiary's claim for breach of trust is barred unless a proceeding is commenced within two years after the date the beneficiary was sent a written report that adequately disclosed the existence of the claim — sufficient information so that the beneficiary knows of the claim or reasonably should have inquired — and otherwise within six years after the beneficiary discovered or reasonably should have discovered its subject (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-307(a)); a rule the instrument cannot vary (§ 53-12-7(a)(6)). Gid: Egzijans kontablite trust nan Georgia

Contest period

A judicial proceeding to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable immediately before the settlor's death is commenced within two years of the death (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-45(a)). The trustee may distribute after the death without liability unless the trustee knows of a pending contest or a potential contestant's written notice is followed by a proceeding within 60 days (§ 53-12-45(b)). Gid: Administratè siksesè apre yon lanmò nan Georgia: premye etap

Distribution after the settlor's death

On the death of the settlor of a trust that was revocable immediately before the death, the trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with the trust provisions, and is not liable for doing so unless the trustee knows of a pending contest or a potential contestant has given written notice and a proceeding follows within 60 days; a beneficiary of a trust determined invalid returns the distribution (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-45(b), (c)). Gid: Administratè siksesè apre yon lanmò nan Georgia: premye etap

Methods of notice

Notice or a record is accomplished in a manner likely to result in receipt and reasonably suitable under the circumstances, and is presumed so when by personal delivery, registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, an electronic address the person consented to use, or an electronic portal where the person was granted access and told notices would be there, the record is made available and can be downloaded, the person is notified, and for at least 90 days access and availability continue (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-511).

Electronic portal

A website or similar electronic service through which a person may retrieve information (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-510(3)). A notice or record sent through one is presumed received only on § 53-12-511(c)(4)'s conditions, an objection defeats the presumption, a record counts as made available only if it can be downloaded or otherwise preserved outside the portal (§ 53-12-511(e)(3)), and a record sent solely through a portal tolls the limitation period if access ends without consent unless an alternative means is notified within 30 days (§ 53-12-511(d)).

Electronic records and signatures

A record or signature relating to a trust is not denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, and an electronic record or signature satisfies a writing or signature requirement of Georgia law or a trust instrument — for notices, reports, accountings, settlement agreements and the other records § 53-12-512 lists, but not the writing and signature that create or declare an express trust under § 53-12-20 (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-512).

The trust's liability for the settlor's estate

After the settlor's death, and subject to the settlor's right to direct the source of payment, the property of a trust that was revocable at the death is subject to the claims of the creditors of the settlor's estate to the extent the probate estate is inadequate; payments that would escape those claims if made by beneficiary designation are not reached unless the instrument provides otherwise (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-82(a)(2)(C)). The estate's claims rank by § 53-7-40. Gid: Administratè siksesè apre yon lanmò nan Georgia: premye etap

The estate's notice to creditors

The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors within 60 days of qualification, once a week for four weeks in the county's official newspaper, has six months from the first qualification to ascertain the estate's condition, and a creditor who does not give notice within three months from the last publication loses equal participation with creditors of equal priority to whom distribution is made before notification (O.C.G.A. § 53-7-41). A trustee has no creditor procedure of its own. Gid: Pwobasyon nan Georgia, eksplike

Priority of claims against an estate

All property of the estate is liable for claims in this order: year's support for the family; funeral expenses; other necessary expenses of administration; reasonable expenses of the last illness; unpaid taxes or other debts due the state or the United States; judgments, secured interests and other liens created during the decedent's lifetime; and all other claims (O.C.G.A. § 53-7-40). Gid: Pwobasyon nan Georgia, eksplike

Year's support

The surviving spouse's and minor children's entitlement, among the necessary expenses of administration and preferred before all other debts or demands, to property for their support and maintenance for 12 months from the decedent's death (O.C.G.A. § 53-3-1), on a petition filed in the probate court within 24 months of the death (§ 53-3-5) and set apart by the court (§ 53-3-7). Georgia has no elective share and no homestead devise rule. Gid: Kay la apre yon lanmò nan Jòji

Per stirpes

Georgia's intestate division among a decedent's children: those who survive share equally, with the descendants of any deceased child taking, per stirpes, the share that child would have taken if in life — the division begins at the children's generation and a deceased child's share passes down that child's own line (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1(c)(3)). Gid: Kalkilatè per stirpes pou administratè Georgia

Surviving spouse's intestate share

A surviving spouse with no child or other descendant of the decedent is the sole heir; where the decedent is also survived by a child or other descendant, the spouse shares equally with the children, with the descendants of a deceased child taking that child's share per stirpes, and the spouse's portion is never less than one-third (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-1(c)(1)). Gid: Mouri san testaman nan Georgia (entesta)

Personal representative (executor or administrator)

The person who settles a decedent's estate as expeditiously and with as little sacrifice of value as is reasonable (O.C.G.A. § 53-7-1). The representative files an inventory within six months of qualification (§ 53-7-30), files an annual return within 60 days of each anniversary of qualification (§ 53-7-67), publishes the notice to creditors (§ 53-7-41), and is compensated by agreement, by the will, or by the statutory commissions (§ 53-6-60). Gid: Pwobasyon nan Georgia, eksplike

Will

A will is in writing, signed by the testator or by another in the testator's presence and at the testator's express direction, and attested and subscribed in the testator's presence by two or more competent witnesses (O.C.G.A. § 53-4-20); an individual 14 or older may make one (§ 53-4-10) with a decided and rational desire as to the disposition of property (§ 53-4-11). Georgia has no holographic will. Gid: Testaman oswa trust revokab nan Georgia: konparezon

Self-proved will

A will made self-proved — so that the witnesses need not testify in the probate — by the affidavits of the testator and the attesting witnesses before a notary public, evidenced by the certificate the statute prints, at execution or at any later date during their lifetimes (O.C.G.A. § 53-4-24). Gid: Testaman oswa trust revokab nan Georgia: konparezon

Custody of a will

A person having possession of a will files it with reasonable promptness 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). Gid: Apre ou siyen testaman Georgia ou a: sa k vini apre

Express trust

Created or declared in writing and signed by the settlor (or an expressly authorized agent), with a settlor's intention to create it, trust property, a reasonably ascertainable beneficiary (except a charitable or animal trust), a trustee and trustee duties specified in writing or provided by law, each ascertainable with reasonable certainty (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-20). No formal words are necessary (§ 53-12-21), and a trust may be created for any lawful purpose (§ 53-12-22). Gid: Kalite trust nan Georgia

No-contest (in terrorem) condition

Void in a trust instrument unless the instrument directs the disposition of the property if the condition is violated; never enforceable against an individual for bringing an action to interpret or enforce the instrument, for an accounting, removal or other relief against a trustee, or for entering into a settlement agreement (O.C.G.A. § 53-12-29).

Power of attorney

Under the Georgia Power of Attorney Act, a writing signed by the principal, attested by a competent witness and by a notary or other officer (O.C.G.A. § 10-6B-5); an agent acts in the principal's reasonable expectations and best interest, in good faith and within the authority granted (§ 10-6B-14), and may create, fund, amend or revoke a trust, make gifts or change beneficiary designations only if the power expressly grants the authority (§ 10-6B-40); it terminates on the principal's death (§ 10-6B-10). Gid: Pwokirasyon ak direktiv alavans nan Georgia

Advance directive for health care

A written document a person of sound mind who is 18 or older may execute to appoint a health care agent, to direct the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or of nourishment and hydration in a terminal condition or permanent unconsciousness, or both — in writing, signed and witnessed (O.C.G.A. § 31-32-5); the agent uses due care to act for the declarant's benefit in accordance with the directive (§ 31-32-7). Gid: Pwokirasyon ak direktiv alavans nan Georgia

Digital assets

An electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest (O.C.G.A. § 53-13-2(9)). A trustee who is not the original user may obtain from a custodian a catalogue of the trust's electronic communications and its other digital assets, and the content of communications where the trust instrument or a certification of trust under § 53-12-280 consents, on the showing §§ 53-13-18 and 53-13-19 describe.

Voidable transfer

A transfer made or obligation incurred with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud a creditor, or without a reasonably equivalent value while the debtor was or became unable to pay (O.C.G.A. § 18-2-74; § 18-2-75 for present creditors); an action is brought within four years, or one year after discovery for an actual-intent claim (§ 18-2-79). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Georgia: baz yo

Exempt property

Property Georgia keeps from a judgment creditor — $5,000 of a debtor's property, or $21,500 for the primary residence (O.C.G.A. § 44-13-1); life insurance proceeds payable to a designated beneficiary and the cash surrender values of policies on a resident's life (§ 33-25-11); and, for bankruptcy and insolvent estates, retirement and pension plans and individual retirement accounts (§ 44-13-100(a)(2.1)). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Georgia: baz yo

Georgia estate tax (none)

Georgia levies no estate tax and requires no state estate tax return for a death on or after July 1, 2014 (O.C.G.A. § 48-12-1), and has no inheritance tax; the trust's fiduciary income tax return (Form 501, with the federal Form 1041) is the return a trustee files, at the rate § 48-7-20 sets for the tax year — 4.99 percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 under 2026 HB 463. Gid: Planifikasyon siksesyon nan Georgia: testaman, trust, pwobasyon

Medicaid estate recovery

The Department of Community Health may claim against the estate of a Medicaid recipient for the medical assistance paid, only where the applicant received written notice and signed an acknowledgment at application, the estate is otherwise subject to recovery and no hardship or other exemption exists; the commissioner waives a claim against the first $25,000 of an estate and one whose enforcement would cause substantial hardship to dependents (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-147.1). Gid: Pwoteksyon byen nan Georgia: baz yo

Attorney-client privilege

Communications between attorney and client are among the communications excluded from evidence on grounds of public policy (O.C.G.A. § 24-5-501(a)(2)); Georgia has no fiduciary-specific privilege rule.

Practice of law (Georgia's statute)

Representing litigants in court and preparing papers incident to an action; conveyancing; the preparation of legal instruments of all kinds whereby a legal right is secured; opinions on title; the giving of any legal advice; and any action taken for others in any matter connected with the law (O.C.G.A. § 15-19-50) — unlawful for anyone other than a licensed attorney (§ 15-19-51), except the acts a person does as a party to them (§ 15-19-52).

Breach of the security of the system

The unauthorized acquisition of an individual's electronic data that compromises the security, confidentiality or integrity of personal information an information broker or data collector maintains (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-911); the broker or collector notifies each affected Georgia resident in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay (§ 10-1-912).