What to do when someone dies in Georgia: A step-by-step guide
When someone dies, their family faces a series of time-sensitive tasks, from obtaining a legal pronouncement and death certificates to settling the estate through the court. This guide walks you through the whole process so you understand what’s required. If you have aging parents, the best thing you can do today is find out whether they have a plan and where it’s kept.
Most people have no idea what to do when a family member dies. There’s no class for this, and it’s not something you tend to chat about with friends. Most people learn what the steps are while they’re grieving, exhausted, and trying to contact the probate court while making funeral arrangements.
If you have aging parents, you can see that day coming, and you’ll likely be the one handling it. This guide exists so you understand the process now, while everyone is healthy and there’s no pressure, instead of learning under the worst possible circumstances.
Let’s walk through it.
Immediate next steps: The first 24–72 hours
- Obtain a legal pronouncement of death. In a hospital or care facility, the staff will handle this. Under home hospice care, the hospice nurse typically can. If a death happens at home unexpectedly, call 911 and the first responders will tell you what’s next. The pronouncement of death is required for everything that follows, including obtaining the death certificate.
- Contact a funeral home or cremation provider. They’ll coordinate transport for the body and walk you through immediate decisions. If you know your parent’s wishes in advance (e.g., burial vs. cremation or any prepaid arrangements), this process is much easier.
- Notify immediate family. If you can, enlist other family members to help you do this, since these are hard conversations to have. Don’t underestimate how draining this process can be.
- Secure the home and property. Lock up, collect the mail so it doesn’t signal an empty house, arrange care for pets, and make sure the property is safe, especially if your parent lived alone.
- Locate important documents. These documents include the will, any trust documents, life insurance policies, deeds, and financial account information. Knowing in advance where these documents are kept is hugely helpful, so have these conversations early.
In the first week
- Order multiple certified copies of the death certificate. You’ll need more than you think (often ten or more), because banks, insurers, and other agencies will each want a certified original over a photocopy.
- Notify the Social Security Administration. This stops benefit payments (any payment for the month of death must usually be returned) and starts any survivor benefits. The funeral home will sometimes report the death on your behalf, so confirm with them directly.
- Contact life insurance companies to begin claims. You’ll need a certified death certificate and policy information for each.
- Notify the employer, if your parent was still working, about final pay, pension, and benefits.
- Notify financial institutions. Banks, credit unions, and brokerages should all be notified so accounts can be flagged and the right process started internally. Before you do this, know that these accounts will get frozen upon notification, and you probably don’t want to get an account frozen that’s auto-paying something like a mortgage or utilities. So use your best judgment here.
- Make a list of assets and liabilities. This is another area where having a head start as part of your parent’s estate plan is a massive help. This is exactly what our Estate Planning Flowchart is for. Every Siedentopf Law client leaves with a one-page document showing what assets exist and what should happen to them.
Do you need to go through probate?
The answer depends on what kind of plan your family member has in place:
- A properly funded revocable living trust: Assets in the trust will pass to beneficiaries outside probate. The named successor trustee will step in and distribute according to the trust’s terms.
- A will: Every Georgia will goes through probate, a court-supervised process to validate the will, appoint the executor, settle debts, and distribute what’s left. (However, there are situations where you might not want to probate a will, so it’s a good idea to consult an attorney to ensure this step is necessary.)
- No plan: Georgia’s intestacy law decides who inherits and in what shares. The court will appoint an administrator, and the state’s formula will apply.
Who files for probate?
The executor named in the will should file for probate. If there’s no will, a family member can petition to be appointed administrator in the probate court of the county where your family member lived.
Estate administration: Weeks to months
Once probate is opened (or, with a trust, once the successor trustee is administering), a longer process begins:
- Inventory all assets, and sort probate from non-probate. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts pass directly to named beneficiaries. Trust assets pass outside probate too. What’s left is the probate estate.
- Notify creditors. Georgia has a specific procedure and timeline for notifying creditors and allowing claims.
- Pay valid debts and final expenses from estate funds, in the order Georgia law requires.
- File a final income tax return and an estate return if the estate earns income during administration. Georgia has no state estate tax, and the federal estate tax threshold is currently $15 million for individuals, so for most families this is an income-tax step rather than an estate-tax one.
- Distribute assets to beneficiaries according to the will, trust, or Georgia intestate law.
- Transfer title on real estate and vehicles, following Georgia’s county deed-recording requirements.
- Close accounts and cancel services, including subscriptions, memberships, utilities, and other recurring charges.
Digital assets
Most of our lives are spread across dozens of online accounts, and managing those in some way is a step that families routinely miss.
Digital accounts may include:
- Social media and email accounts
- Cloud storage holding irreplaceable family photos
- Digital subscriptions and auto-renewing services
- Online financial accounts, loyalty programs, and cryptocurrency
Georgia law addresses fiduciary access to digital assets, but access is much easier when you have an inventory to work from. Helping your parents build a simple list of important accounts and how to access them (stored somewhere safe, of course) is one of the most overlooked steps you can take today.
This is worth doing for yourself, too; photos and memories are often what families grieve losing most.
The bottom line
As you can see, every step of this process is much more manageable when the estate was organized in advance, and when families know where to find key documents to inform next steps.
The best thing to do next is to get critical conversations started. Ask your parents whether they have a plan and where to find it. If they don’t, address that with them now, while they can still take action.
Want the whole process in one place? Download our free PDF checklist on What to Do After Your Loved One Passes.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to settle an estate in Georgia?
It varies widely. A funded trust with clear instructions can be handled quite quickly. A will that goes through probate takes a minimum of six months, and complications such as contested wills, assets that can’t be located, or creditor disputes can stretch it far longer.
Do you always have to go through probate in Georgia?
No. Assets in a properly funded trust pass outside probate, as do assets with named beneficiaries like life insurance and retirement accounts. Probate is required when assets are held in the deceased’s name alone and pass through the will.
What happens if my parent dies without a will in Georgia?
Georgia’s intestacy law determines who inherits and in what shares, and the court appoints an administrator. The outcome will follow the state’s formula based on legal relationships, which may not match what your parent would have chosen.
How many death certificates will I need?
More than you think! Each bank, insurer, and agency typically requires its own certified original. I typically recommend ordering ten or more.
Can I handle a Georgia estate myself, or do I need an attorney?
Simpler estates are sometimes handled without one, but Georgia’s probate, creditor-notice, and title-transfer procedures all have their own rules and deadlines, and mistakes can cost the estate time and money. Many families get help to avoid errors.
What’s the best thing I can do today?
Talk to your parents. Find out whether they have a will or a trust, whether the trust is funded, who the named executor or trustee is, and where everything is kept.
