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HomeYear's support

Georgia probate guide

Year's support in Georgia

The short answer

Year's support lets a surviving spouse, or children under 18, ask the probate court for property from the estate to live on for the 12 months after the death. Georgia law ranks it ahead of other debts. It can include the house. The petition has to be filed within 24 months of the death, will or no will.

By Georgia Probate Specialist team

On this page
  1. 01What year's support is
  2. 02Who can ask
  3. 03The 24-month deadline
  4. 04How it goes once it is filed
  5. 05If someone objects
  6. 06Year's support and the house

What year's support is

Georgia law lets a spouse and minor children claim support from the estate for the 12 months after the death. The support comes as property, such as money or the house.

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It works with a will or without one. It works even when the estate owes more than it owns.

The law counts it as a cost of the estate.

Who can ask

The family asks with a petition, the paper that asks the court to act.

  • A surviving spouse who has not remarried.
  • Children under 18 who are not married. A guardian or another adult asks for them. The child has to be one who would inherit from the parent if there were no will.
Read next: Probate without a will

The 24-month deadline

Two numbers matter here, and they are easy to mix up. The support covers 12 months. The window to ask for it is 24 months from the death.

  1. The death

    The 12 months of support and the 24-month window both start.

  2. Month 12

    The period the support is meant to cover ends. You can still ask.

  3. Month 24

    The window to file the petition closes.

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The right can end sooner. A spouse loses it by remarrying or dying before the petition is filed. A child loses it by marrying, dying or turning 18 before filing.

How it goes once it is filed

The steps come from Georgia law and the state form, GPCSF 10.

  1. Filing

    The petition lists the family and the property asked for. Land needs a full legal description.

  2. Within 5 days

    If land is in the petition, a copy goes to the county tax commissioner.

  3. 4 weeks

    Notice runs in the county's legal newspaper once a week for 4 weeks.

  4. 30 days or more

    The person running the estate, if there is one, gets notice at least 30 days before the date to object. If no one is, the court mails notice to the heirs, meaning the family who would inherit, and to creditors and others with a stake.

  5. The order

    If no one objects, the court sets apart the property asked for. Set apart means it is carved out of the estate for the family.

  6. By the final order

    A PT-61, the state's real estate transfer form, is filed for each piece of land.

Official court forms

If someone objects

Then the judge decides how much to set apart. The law sets no fixed dollar amount. The goal is enough to keep the way of life the spouse and children had before the death.

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The judge also weighs their other income, their earning power, and whether the estate can pay its debts. The family asking has to prove its case. This is a good time to talk with a lawyer.

Year's support and the house

Year's support can include the house. Once the court sets it apart, it belongs to the spouse and children in equal shares. If a minor child is not the spouse's child, the court must set that child's portion apart separately. The property is no longer handled as part of the estate.

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If the house goes to the spouse alone, the spouse owns it outright. The law puts no limits on living there, borrowing against it or selling it.

When children share in the property, there is a separate state form, GPCSF 17, for asking the court's leave, its okay, to sell or borrow against it.

One thing we could not confirm is whether year's support reaches past a mortgage on the house. Ask a lawyer before counting on it.

Official court forms

Quick answers

Questions people ask

Can a spouse get year's support if there was a will?

Yes, it works with or without a will. But if the will leaves the spouse something in place of year's support, the spouse has to choose one or the other.

Is the deadline one year or two?

Two. The petition has to be filed within 24 months of the death. The 12 months is how long the support is meant to cover.

Can grown children ask for it?

No. Only children under 18 who are not married. The surviving spouse can ask too.

Does it come before the estate's debts?

Georgia law ranks it ahead of other debts. Whether it gets ahead of a mortgage is something to ask a lawyer.

Where these facts come from11 sources

This page explains how things work. It is not legal advice. Each fact here comes from one of these sources.