Georgia: Petition to Probate a Will Requirements
The short answer
Georgia permits probate in common form, solemn form, or both. The nominated executor has the first right to offer the will; after an unreasonably slow failure or if none is named, any interested person may do so. Both petitions use the solemn-form statutory facts and pray for letters. Common form can be granted without notice; solemn form requires heir and competing-will notice. Letters depend on the nominee's eligibility, order of nomination, timely qualification, executor's oath, and any bond the court later requires.
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This is the general rule in Georgia. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Georgia law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and proceeding type | Probate may be in common form, solemn form, or both. Each petition also prays for letters testamentary; common form is initially nonconclusive, while solemn form binds served parties (§§ 53-5-15, 53-5-17, 53-5-20 to -21) |
|---|---|
| Court and venue | Probate court has exclusive jurisdiction in the testator's county of domicile at death; a nursing-home or similar-facility resident is presumptively domiciled in the pre-entry county, subject to rebuttal (§ 53-5-1) |
| Who may petition | Named executor has first right. If the executor fails with reasonable promptness or none is named, any interested person—including listed heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, prior administrators, trust parties, or earlier-will claimants and their representatives—may offer (§ 53-5-2) |
| Petition contents | Both forms state testator's full name, domicile, death date; petitioner's mailing address; every heir's name, age/majority, address, and relationship; pending Georgia competing-will proceedings and required parties; reasons for missing particulars; and a prayer for letters (§§ 53-5-17, 53-5-21) |
| Original will, copy, and lodging | Will holder must file it in the jurisdictional probate court with reasonable promptness. If the original cannot be found, a copy may be offered only by proving it true and rebutting the revocation presumption by a preponderance (§§ 53-5-5, 53-4-46) |
| Filing or production deadline | Possessor's filing duty is 'reasonable promptness.' Separately, probate is barred 5 years after the earlier statutory trigger tied to a representative/no-administration/different-will petition or its continuing final order—not simply 5 years after death (§§ 53-5-3, 53-5-5) |
| Proof and self-proving route | Common form uses one subscribing witness; solemn form uses all living in-jurisdiction witnesses, but one suffices absent caveat. Self-proof supplies presumptions; unavailable witnesses permit two credible disinterested signature witnesses or other sufficient proof (§§ 53-5-17, 53-5-21, 53-5-23 to -24) |
| Notice, hearing, and objections | Common form may be ordered anytime without service. Solemn form follows notice to heirs and competing-will parties; known Georgia residents get personal service at least 30 days before probate unless waived. Publication commands objections. Post-qualification beneficiary notice is due within 6 months (§§ 53-5-18 to -22; 53-5-8) |
| Executor, bond, and letters | Sui-juris individuals are eligible regardless of residence/citizenship; nominees qualify in will order unless unfit, with 90-day windows and written declination available. Executor takes the statutory oath before a Georgia probate judge/clerk; default § 53-6-50 bond applies to intestate representatives/temporary administrators, while § 53-6-53 permits later bond for mismanagement (§§ 53-6-1, -10 to -13, -16, -50, -53) |
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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)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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