Georgia Beneficiaries and Laws of Intestacy
Georgia's intestacy laws determine who inherits an estate and how much of a share each person receives if a person die without a will. A will is a document used to detail how your belongings and assets are distributed among your heirs when you die. Without a will, the intestacy laws of the state prevail.
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Spouse, Children and Grandchildren
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Your spouse is the first person in line to inherit your estate under Georgia's intestacy laws, and she is entitled to all your assets if you have no living children. Any surviving children you had or adopted share your estate equally with your spouse; however, your spouse must receive a share worth at least one-third of your entire estate. Grandchildren of any child who died before you are entitled to the deceased child's portion.
Parents
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Your parents are next in intestate distribution in Georgia if you did not have a surviving spouse, children or grandchildren. Any surviving parent you have is entitled to your entire estate; if both of your parents are living, the estate is split equally between them.
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Siblings and Nieces or Nephews
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Your living siblings inherit your estate in equal shares if you had no surviving spouse, children, grandchildren or parents. Living siblings receive equal shares of your estate, but any nieces or nephews of a deceased sibling split the share that would have belonged to the deceased sibling under Georgia law. All surviving nieces and nephews share the estate equally if all of your siblings are deceased.
Other Relatives
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Any surviving grandparents you have inherit your estate in equal amounts when no spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, nieces or nephews survive you. Your aunts and uncles are after your grandparents in Georgia, and then your first cousins if no aunts and uncles are alive. Georgia uses kinship "chains" to determine who inherits if no cousins survived you. The surviving relatives are evaluated by how many steps it would take in a family tree to get from the relative to the common ancestor you share. The relatives with the fewest steps share in your estate equally.
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