Are Handwritten Wills In Georgia Legal Or Valid?

Are handwritten wills in Georgia even legal?

Can you use them to:

avoid the probate process
pass down your inheritance to beneficiaries
appoint an executor of a Georgia estate
create a legal document for your estate

We will dig into all of this.

Let’s dig in.

Handwritten Wills In Georgia

You’re probably thinking about a handwritten will like this.

You take out a sheet of paper and write everything on it.

Is that a valid will in the state of Georgia?

At this point, this is not a valid will.

It does not meet Georgia’s will requirements.

Georgia Handwritten Will Requirements

Under Georgia law, for it to be a valid will, a handwritten will needs to:

have a testator that’s 14+ years of age and of sound mind
be typed up or written out (either is fine)
NOT be an audio or video recording (oral wills)
get witnessed by two competent witnesses, 14+ years of age
get signed by those witnesses

Let’s talk about if you DON’T meet the will requirements in Georgia.

Holographic Wills In Georgia

A handwritten will is a holographic will in Georgia if it doesn’t:

get witnessed by two people
get signed by two competent witnesses

A handwritten will does not need to get notarized to be a valid will.

But, it helps the executor prove the validity of the will to the probate courts.

An estate planning attorney can:

notarize the handwritten will
give you a self-proving affidavit

What Happens If Your Handwritten Will Is Invalid?

Let’s say you try to file a handwritten will in Georgia that’s not valid.

In this case, you won’t be able to prove the validity of the will to the probate courts.

And the probate courts won’t honor your wishes.

They will distribute your estate per the intestate laws in Georgia.

In this case, this means that:

your spouse and kids split the estate equally per individual
your spouse (with no kids) gets everything
your kids (with no spouse) get everything

If this is what you DON’T want, you will need to create a new will.

Having A Valid Handwritten Will In Georgia

With a valid will, your estate gets passed down exactly how you want it to.

You can’t “avoid probate” with any will in Georgia.

You can only avoid probate by setting up trusts.

But a valid, handwritten will allows you to:

appoint an executor (personal representative) of your estate
distribute your estate how you see fit
exclude people from your inheritance if desired
change the allocations of how things get distributed

For example, people pass away and leave behind their surviving spouses.

Intestate laws in Georgia would make your surviving spouse split the estate with the kids.

You may want to give your spouse the entire estate.

And then let them pass the remaining estate to the kids once they pass.

That way, they aren’t left with minimal assets after you pass.

Note that you could do everything right and still not have a valid will.

If the testamentary capacity is in question, their own will can become invalid.

An estate planning attorney makes sure you meet all the proper requirements.

How To Set Up A Handwritten Will

We’ve talked about a lot of things for estate planning with this legal document.

Let’s talk about the best way to set things up with your last will and testament.

make it a living will (to determine your end-of-life healthcare)
appoint guardianship for your minor children
make your will self-proving with an affidavit
get a notary for your will to make it easier to prove
set up the appropriate power of attorneys
set up living trusts to pass down real estate and personal property

There are other things to consider for your family members, too.

You need to choose the appropriate loved ones as beneficiaries of things like:

retirement plans
life insurance policies
bank accounts
investment accounts

Your Georgia will can address these accounts for probate.

But, appointing beneficiaries means that you can avoid probate with these accounts.

This way, a testator can pass down property to beneficiaries immediately.

Get A Handwritten Will In Georgia

If you want a reliable, attorney-created handwritten will and legal advice, fill out the form below.

Our experienced, Atlanta estate planning attorneys will create your living will, which means:

you can make sure your doctors abide by the laws
you have confidence you have the correct living will set up
you don’t have to hire a notary to show up to the signing
you don’t have to find witnesses to show up at the signing
you get FREE revisions for 30 days

Fill out the form below and we will reach out and get the ball rolling.

Talk soon.