This is intended as high-level, general guidance to help you understand what you can expect in Gordon County, Georgia. It is not legal advice. Should you need legal advice, please contact an attorney. We recommend LegalShield, a service that can help guide you through each step in the process for only $24.95/month.

You can file all of the below forms/instructions at:

Gordon County Courthouse, First Floor

100 South Wall Street

Calhoun, GA 30701

Phone: 706-629-7314

Fax: 706-629-4698

Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Here is an overview of the process and all the needed forms:

1. Create a list of heirs. You can use this worksheet if you are unsure on who to include: Heir Determination Worksheet. You will need to be careful to list all of these heirs, with their ages, on the following forms.
2. Locate the will (if there is one). If you don’t know where the will is, you may find advice on how to find it here: Find the will
3. If there is no will, you have two options:

• See if you can skip probate. You can skip probate if: (1) there is no will and (2) all heirs and creditors agree about how to divide up assets. If you meet these criteria, you only need to file this form at the Gordon County Probate Court: File a Petition for Order Declaring No Administration Necessary. This requires a fee of $200 to file the form.
• If there is no will but there are more complex assets, file for “Letters of Administration.” This papers authorize someone to handle the estate, with the Gordon County Probate Court: Petition for Letters of Administration
• This person should be selected unanimously by all heirs.
• If the heirs can’t agree, the order of preference is: (1) spouse (unless divorce/separation was pending), (2) another heir of the estate, (3) anyone else, (4) creditors, or the (5) public administrator.

1. If there is a will, file the will with the Gordon County Probate Court. The court will confirm the will is valid and name the executor/personal representative (the person who is in charge of taking care of the estate). The form you will need to file depends on the situation:

• In normal circumstances, people generally use the Solemn Form.
• The Solemn Petition requires all heirs to sign at the probate court or in front of a notary. If the heir refuses to sign, the court will have the sheriff serve them a copy. This costs $50. If the location of the heir is not known, you will need to publish a notice for $120.

There are two versions of this form:

• If the will names the executor: Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form
• If the will does not name the executor, the executor listed in the will passed away, or the executor listed in the will does not want to serve: Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form and For Letters of Administration with Will Annexed
• In rushed/urgent circumstances (bank trying to foreclose on the home, deceased owned a business, etc.), you can use Common Form: Petition to Probate Will in Common Form
• With these forms, you do not need to give notice to heirs and get them to sign. However, the property distributions are not final for 4 years. This means that an heir can object and then the property may have to be returned.
• If the will does not contain a self-proving affidavit, then you also need to file a form that has the signatures of people who witnessed the will: Interrogatories to Witness To Will
• You will also need to pay an initial filing fee, which is typically $190.

1. After the hearing, you will be granted the “Letters Testamentary” (papers that give you authority to close the estate). The next steps are generally:

• You will be given a “Debtors and Creditors Notice” by the court that you will be required to run in the local newspaper.
• Depending on how the will was written, you also may be required to post a bond (an insurance policy in case something goes wrong with handling the estate), file an Inventory of Assets (all the things the person who passed owned), and file Annual returns. This all depends on how the will was written.
• Open an estate bank account
• Pay debts
• File final taxes
• Arrange for the final distribution of assets

1. When the debts, expenses and taxes have been paid and the leftover assets distributed, you can file a petition to end probate: Petition for Discharge of Personal Representative

• There are some special circumstances where another form may be helpful:
• If you are a spouse or a minor child of the person who passed, you can file a “Petition for a Year’s Support.” This means that regardless of what the will says, you will get an amount from the estate that will cover a year of expenses to the standard of living that you had before: Petition for Year’s Support
• If it is taking too long to probate the will and you need to take control of a few matters more quickly, for example because the bank is trying to foreclose on the house, you can get appointed as a temporary administrator in order to protect the value of the estate: Petition for Temporary Letters of Administration
• If the person who passed left behind a minor, and you need guardianship: Supplement to Petition Seeking Appointment as Testamentary Guardian
• You need to sell perishable property or property that is too expensive for you to keep: Petition for Leave to Sell Perishable Property by Personal Representative
• You need to sell property (that is not perishable): Petition of Personal Representative for Leave to Sell Property
• You want to avoid the bond requirement: Petition by Personal Representative for Waiver of Bond and/or Grant of Certain Powers
• If the person is missing, but you still need to close the estate: Petition for Presumption of Death of Missing Individual Believed to be Dead
• You need to appoint a different person to administer the estate, because the person who was originally appointed to administer the estate passed away or declined the responsibility: Petition for Letters of Administration with Will Annexed and Will Previously Probated
• You can see the probate court filing fees here: Probate Court Filing Fees
• You need to dispose of the person who’s passed remains, and the funeral home didn’t take care of it: Petition for Determination of Right of Disposition of Remains of a Decedent