Petition to Probate a Will Requirements in Georgia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Two probate tracks, one probate court

O.C.G.A. § 53-5-15 permits common-form probate, solemn-form probate, or both. The probate court has exclusive jurisdiction, and § 53-5-1 fixes the county by the testator's domicile at death. A person in a nursing home or similar facility is presumptively domiciled in the pre-entry county, but the presumption can be rebutted under the statute's stated test.

The tracks differ most sharply in notice and conclusiveness. Common form can be ordered at any time without service or notice, but ordinarily does not become conclusive for four years. Solemn form follows service and binds persons served or properly represented; § 53-5-20 supplies a six-month outside conclusiveness rule for persons not otherwise covered by its service provisions.

Who may offer the will

The named executor has the first right under § 53-5-2. If that executor does not act with reasonable promptness, or the will names none, any interested person may offer it. The statute's nonexclusive list reaches heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, purchasers from heirs, an administrator appointed before discovery of the will, testamentary-trust parties, and earlier-will claimants, along with fiduciaries or representatives acting for them.

That filing authority does not itself confer letters. The nominee must separately satisfy the eligibility, nomination-order, timing, oath, and any court-imposed bond rules in Chapter 6.

What both petitions contain

Section 53-5-17 makes the common-form petition use the same information as the solemn-form petition. Under § 53-5-21, that means the testator's full name, domicile, and death date; the petitioner's mailing address; every heir's name, age or majority status, address, and relationship; and disclosure of any pending Georgia probate proceeding for another purported will, including the required propounder and beneficiary information. Missing particulars require an explanation. Both petitions end by requesting letters testamentary.

The Georgia Supreme Court's current standard-forms page lists GPCSF 4 for common form and GPCSF 5 for solemn form. The statute, not the title of the form alone, controls which facts, notice route, and proof are required.

Original, missing original, and timing

The person possessing the will must file it in the jurisdictional probate court with “reasonable promptness”; contempt, fine, and imprisonment are available to compel delivery. If the original cannot be found, § 53-4-46 does not treat an ordinary copy as interchangeable. The proponent must prove by a preponderance that it is a true copy and rebut, by the same standard, the presumption that the missing original was revoked.

Georgia's five-year bar is not measured mechanically from death. Section 53-5-3 uses the earlier of two specialized triggers tied to the latest petition for a personal representative, no-administration order, or probate of a different will, or the continuing final order granting such a petition. The possessor's reasonable-promptness duty remains separate.

Proof and self-proof

Common form can use one subscribing witness. A self-proved will instead receives the statutory execution presumptions without subscribing-witness testimony. Solemn form ordinarily uses all witnesses who are living and within the court's jurisdiction, although one witness is enough if no caveat is filed; self-proof creates rebuttable presumptions there.

O.C.G.A. § 53-5-23 permits in-person testimony, sworn written interrogatories, depositions, and ordinary civil discovery, and lets a photocopy be shown to a witness. If one or more subscribing witnesses are dead, incapable, or otherwise inaccessible, § 53-5-24 permits at least two credible disinterested witnesses to prove the testator's signature, or other sufficient signature proof, subject to the court's power to demand more.

Notice, objections, and later beneficiary notice

Common form has no advance service requirement. Solemn form requires notice to all heirs and, when another purported will is already in a Georgia probate proceeding, its propounders and the beneficiaries specified by § 53-5-22. A known Georgia resident receives personal service at least 30 days before probate unless service is waived. Personal or mail service includes the petition and will; publication commands the persons addressed to file any objection.

If every heir acknowledges service and assents and no competing-will proceeding is pending in Georgia, § 53-5-21 permits probate and letters without further delay. After the first personal representative qualifies, current § 53-5-8 generally gives that representative six months to notify present-interest beneficiaries of the probate and the representative's name and mailing address, subject to the statute's waivers and exclusions.

Executor, oath, bond, and letters

An individual must be sui juris—age 18 or older and free of legal disability—but Georgia does not disqualify an otherwise eligible individual merely for citizenship or nonresidence. Unless adjudged unfit, nominees have the right to qualify in the will's order. The first nominee generally has 90 days after the admission order; the next nominee receives the following statutory window. Written declination is allowed, and an unrepresented testate estate receives an administrator with the will annexed under § 53-6-13.

Every executor takes the statutory oath or affirmation before a Georgia probate judge or clerk, or through an authorized out-of-state commission. The default definition in § 53-1-2 treats qualification as the oath, any required bond, and issuance of letters. The default bond command in § 53-6-50 addresses an intestate personal representative or temporary administrator, not an ordinary named executor. Section 53-6-53 still lets the probate court require bond—or revoke letters—after a show-cause process based on alleged mismanagement.

What trips people up

Common and solemn form are not synonyms. Common form can proceed without notice; solemn form requires the service architecture in § 53-5-22. Their conclusiveness rules are also different.

The five-year rule is not simply five years after death. Its triggers are the filings and continuing final orders listed in § 53-5-3. The will holder's separate duty is to file with reasonable promptness.

One witness is not the answer to every solemn-form case. One is enough when no caveat is filed. A caveated case invokes the broader living-and-in-jurisdiction witness rule, subject to the statutory signature-proof alternatives.

Executor bond is not universal. Section 53-6-50's default class is intestate representatives and temporary administrators. A named executor can nevertheless face a later bond order under § 53-6-53 if the court's show-cause procedure is triggered by alleged mismanagement.

Common questions

Can an heir file if the named executor does nothing?

Yes, once the named executor fails to act with reasonable promptness. An heir is one of § 53-5-2's expressly listed interested persons.

Can the court admit a photocopy because the original is missing?

Only through § 53-4-46's missing-original route. The proponent must prove the copy true and rebut the revocation presumption, both by a preponderance of the evidence.

Is a hearing always required before admission?

No. Common form may be granted at any time without service or notice. In solemn form, all heirs may acknowledge service and assent; if no competing-will proceeding is pending in Georgia, probate and letters may issue without further delay.

How long does the first nominated executor have to qualify?

Generally 90 days after entry of the order admitting the will. The next nominee then receives the next statutory 90-day period, and failure is treated as a declination without permanently barring later service.

Statutes and sources

• O.C.G.A. §§ 53-5-1 to 53-5-5 — court, domicile, who may offer, five-year bar, and will-holder filing duty. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.53.html#t53c05a01s53-5-1 (accessed 2026-08-03)
• O.C.G.A. § 53-4-46 — missing-original presumption and copy-proof route. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.53.html#t53c04a05s53-4-46 (accessed 2026-08-03)
• O.C.G.A. §§ 53-5-15 to 53-5-24 — common and solemn form, petition facts, proof, notice, objections, and conclusiveness. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.53.html#t53c05a02s53-5-15 (accessed 2026-08-03)
• 2025 Ga. Act 310 (H.B. 327) — current § 53-5-8 beneficiary notice and § 53-6-1 eligibility wording. https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238505 (accessed 2026-08-03)
• O.C.G.A. §§ 53-6-10 to 53-6-16 and 53-6-50 to 53-6-53 — nomination order, qualification windows, declination, oath, and bond boundary. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.53.html#t53c06a02s53-6-10 (accessed 2026-08-03)
• Georgia Supreme Court probate standard-forms page — GPCSF 4 and GPCSF 5. https://www.gasupreme.us/probate-court-standard-forms/ (accessed 2026-08-03)