Problem 1 — Minor Children Cannot Own Real Property Directly
A minor child in Georgia cannot hold title to real property. If a rental property passes directly to a minor — through a will, through intestate succession, or through a beneficiary designation — the law requires a court-supervised conservatorship to manage that property until the child reaches adulthood.
The conservatorship is established by petition to the probate court in the minor’s county of domicile under O.C.G.A. § 29-3-8. The process involves filing a petition, appointment of a Guardian ad Litem to review the minor’s interests, a court hearing, a court order, and posting a bond based on the asset value. The conservator must file annual verified returns with the probate court (O.C.G.A. § 29-3-60) for as long as the conservatorship continues.
While the conservatorship is in place, the court-appointed conservator manages the property. They can collect rent and pay expenses. Major decisions — selling the property, refinancing, making substantial capital improvements — generally require separate court approval. Every action is subject to probate court oversight.
This process is not a substitute for estate planning. It is what the law substitutes when estate planning is absent or incomplete. The costs include attorney fees to establish the conservatorship, the bond premium, ongoing accounting fees for the annual reports, and any court fees for additional approvals during the life of the conservatorship.
Problem 2 — The 18-Year-Old Inheritance
When the minor turns 18, the conservatorship terminates under O.C.G.A. § 29-3-64. The conservator files a final settlement, the probate court approves the discharge, and the now-adult child receives the rental property outright.
There are no controls on what they do with it. An 18-year-old who inherits a $600,000 rental property has full legal authority to sell it, encumber it, or simply stop managing it. If the property is in an LLC, they inherit the membership interest — and all the responsibilities that come with it — whether or not they are prepared to handle them.
The age of majority in Georgia is 18 under O.C.G.A. § 39-1-1. There is no automatic mechanism that delays inheritance to 21, 25, or any other age an investor might prefer. Without a trust specifying the distribution age, the conservatorship ends and the property transfers on the child’s 18th birthday.
A trust can specify any distribution age or structure the investor chooses — distribute at 25, distribute in thirds at 25/30/35, hold and distribute income until a triggering event, or distribute to a successor trustee if the beneficiary is incapacitated. A conservatorship gives the investor none of those options.
Problem 3 — Adult Children Who Inherit Together
The partition problem does not only affect strangers. O.C.G.A. § 44-6-160 explicitly applies to property held “by descent” — meaning property inherited from a parent.
When two or more adult children inherit a rental property as co-owners, any one of them can file a partition action in Georgia superior court without the other siblings’ consent and without showing any wrongdoing. The same rules apply as with any co-owner dispute: one sibling acts alone, the property goes through the partition process, and a forced sale is the likely outcome for a property that cannot be physically divided.
The fact that the co-owners are family does not change the legal right. A child who needs cash, who is going through a divorce, whose creditors are pressing — any of these circumstances can motivate a partition filing. Once filed, the other siblings’ preference to keep the property is legally irrelevant unless they can buy out the petitioning sibling within the 45-day window under Georgia’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 44-6-180 through 44-6-189.1).
For the full breakdown of what a forced partition sale costs and how the process works, see What Happens When Heirs Disagree About Rental Properties in Georgia. If the co-ownership arose from a joint tenancy rather than direct inheritance, there are additional problems — including creditor exposure and a gift tax consequence — covered in Problems With Joint Tenancy for Georgia Rental Properties.
How a Trust Solves Both Problems
Naming a trust as the beneficiary of a rental property — or holding the property inside a trust from the beginning — eliminates all three problems.
For minor beneficiaries: The trust holds legal title to the property. When the investor dies, the successor trustee steps in and manages the property on behalf of the minor beneficiary. No conservatorship is required because the child is not inheriting the property outright — they are inheriting the right to receive distributions from the trust. The trustee manages the property, files no annual court reports, posts no bond, and needs no court approval for management decisions.
For the age-18 cliff: The trust document controls when and how the child receives the property or its proceeds. The investor sets those terms. Distribute at 25. Distribute income until 30, then principal. Hold until the child completes a college degree. The trust enforces whatever structure the investor chose — automatically, without court involvement.
For adult children: Trust beneficiaries hold equitable interests, not concurrent legal title. O.C.G.A. § 44-6-160 requires the petitioner to be a “common owner” holding concurrent legal title. A trust beneficiary is not a common owner. No single beneficiary can force a partition sale of trust property. The trustee holds the property and manages it according to the trust document until the distribution conditions are met.
For a full overview of the correct structure for a Georgia rental property portfolio, see Best Way to Hold Rental Properties in Georgia for Estate Planning.
For a breakdown of the execution gaps that cause signed estate plans to break down at death, see Why Most Georgia Rental Property Estate Plans Fail.
