HomeNo Administration Necessary
Georgia probate guide
No Administration Necessary in Georgia
The short answer
No Administration Necessary is a Georgia court order for an estate with no will. No one is named to run it. Instead, every heir signs one agreement on who gets what. The estate has to owe nothing, or each creditor agrees or is served. There is no dollar cap. People call it a small estate affidavit, but it is a court order.
By Georgia Probate Specialist team
On this page
What the order does
It is a court order that says the estate does not need an administrator. No one is put in charge, so no one has to post a bond or send the court reports.
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Instead, the heirs sign one agreement that splits the property. The judge signs the order, and the order follows the heirs' agreement.
The state form is GPCSF 9. It is free on the probate judges' website. State law sets the petition fee at $175, and the clerk can tell you the total in your county.
Who can use it
Georgia law and the state form set these rules.
- There is no will.
- No one has been named in Georgia to run the estate, and no other estate case for this person is open or done in a Georgia probate court.
- Every heir agrees in writing on how to split things. Each one signs in front of a notary or the probate clerk.
- The estate owes no debts, or each creditor agrees in writing or is served with the papers.
- Any heir can file it, in the county where your loved one lived.
The debt question
A creditor is anyone the estate owes money to. The form has four boxes for debts.
- The estate owes nothing.
- The only debt is a mortgage. The lender is served, unless it agrees in writing.
- Every creditor has agreed in writing.
- Other creditors are listed, and each one is served.
Heirs who can't sign for themselves
A child under 18 can't sign. Neither can an adult who can't handle their own affairs. A guardian signs for them, or a guardian ad litem, a person the court names to speak for them.
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If an heir died after your loved one, the person running that heir's estate signs in their place. An heir can also sign through a lawyer. Or someone holding their power of attorney, a paper that lets another person sign for them, can sign, with that paper attached.
Why it is not a small estate affidavit
Search for this topic and you will see the words small estate affidavit. That name does not fit here. An affidavit is a sworn paper. No Administration Necessary is a petition to the court, and the judge signs an order.
- Bank accounts. With no will, if the account holds $15,000 or less, the bank may pay it to close family on a sworn form. The spouse comes first, then the children, then the parents, then brothers and sisters. If no family asks within 45 days of the death, the bank may pay up to $15,000 toward funeral and last-illness bills. That rule is in the 2025 Code of Georgia (§ 7-1-239). Ask the bank.
- Cars. The Department of Revenue has a sworn form for heirs, the T-20, for when no estate was opened. If there is only one heir, a copy of a No Administration Necessary order can stand in for it. Check the Department of Revenue's page for the current steps.
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It has no dollar cap either. That is another way it differs from an affidavit.
Two narrow sworn forms are worth knowing. Each one covers a single kind of property.
The house after the order
The heirs' agreement says who gets the house. The land has to be described clearly enough for the deed records.
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The order has a space for the deed records. The court sends a certified copy to the clerk of superior court in each county where the estate owns land.
If the heirs plan to sell later, ask the closing attorney early what papers they want to see.
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Is there a dollar limit?
No. The state form has none, and the Social Security Administration's summary of Georgia law says there is no limit on the size of the estate.
Can we use it if there is a will?
No. The state form says it is only for an estate with no will.
What if one heir won't sign?
Then this path is closed, because every heir has to agree. The other route when there is no will is letters of administration.
Does a mortgage on the house rule it out?
Not by itself. The form has a box for an estate whose only debt is a mortgage. The lender is served unless it agrees in writing.
Where these facts come from8 sources
This page explains how things work. It is not legal advice. Each fact here comes from one of these sources.
- GPCSF 9, Petition for Order Declaring No Administration Necessary
- O.C.G.A. § 53-2-40, No Administration Necessary
- GPCSF 3, Petition for Letters of Administration (bond, notice, waivers)
- Social Security POMS GN 02315.047, Georgia: no limit on estate size for No Administration Necessary
- O.C.G.A. § 7-1-239, bank payout of an account of $15,000 or less to family of a depositor with no will
- Georgia Department of Revenue, Vehicle Inherited or Purchased from an Estate
- O.C.G.A. § 15-9-60, probate court fees (amended, effective January 1, 2025)
- Georgia Council of Probate Court Judges, Standard Forms