Where the estate is opened.
See the tax section for the exemption or the repeal.
Living trust or probate
A revocable living trust holds assets you title in the trustee's name. You can serve as trustee while you are able.
At death, the successor trustee handles those assets. Property you leave in your own name can still go through the probate court. A pour-over will sends leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may pass through probate first.
The probate path
In Georgia, the estate is opened in the Probate Court.
The Supreme Court of Georgia publishes Georgia Probate Court Standard Forms. The index includes a Petition for Letters of Administration, a Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form, a Petition to Probate Will in Common Form, and a Petition for Discharge of Personal Representative. Those form titles are the ordinary probate path shown on that official page. The index does not set out the steps inside the forms.
Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Forms, Supreme Court of Georgia
Small estate
Georgia has a small-estate procedure. The statute states who can use it.
The same Supreme Court of Georgia forms index lists GPCSF 9, Petition for Order Declaring No Administration Necessary. That is a petition, and the forms index page does not state an affidavit procedure or a dollar limit. There is no affidavit limit on that official page.
Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Forms, Supreme Court of Georgia
Estate or inheritance tax
Georgia has no current estate tax on the page linked below.
The Georgia Department of Revenue quotes O.C.G.A. section 48-12-1: on and after July 1, 2014, there shall be no estate taxes levied by the state and no estate tax returns shall be required by the state. The same page states that Georgia has no inheritance tax.
Source: Georgia Department of Revenue, Estate Tax FAQ
Questions
The answers use the same statute and court pages as the sections above.
Does a living trust avoid probate in Georgia?
A revocable living trust holds the assets you title in the trustee's name. The successor trustee handles those assets. Property still titled in your own name can be a probate matter. A pour-over will can send leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may still pass through probate first.
What is the small-estate procedure in Georgia?
The same Supreme Court of Georgia forms index lists GPCSF 9, Petition for Order Declaring No Administration Necessary. That is a petition, and the forms index page does not state an affidavit procedure or a dollar limit. There is no affidavit limit on that official page.
Does Georgia tax an estate or an inheritance?
The Georgia Department of Revenue quotes O.C.G.A. section 48-12-1: on and after July 1, 2014, there shall be no estate taxes levied by the state and no estate tax returns shall be required by the state. The same page states that Georgia has no inheritance tax.
Sources
These are the statute and court pages used above.