Inheriting a Property with No Will in Georgia

Inheriting a property is not always the exciting event that movies make it out to be. In fact, it can be an incredibly difficult time: you have likely found yourself grieving the loss of a loved one, and on top of that, you might have to handle Georgia’s legal rules of inheritance. Being an heir can place you in a tricky situation, especially if your deceased loved one left no will to determine the division of their assets. The best way to make your experience easier moving forward is to remaining aware of your rights and responsibilities as an heir, so you can figure out the best way to handle your new assets, whether that be through keeping or selling your inherited property. Here is a brief but thorough guide to inheriting a property with no will in Georgia.

1. Determine Your Ownership Status

The first step when inheriting a property with no will is to figure out your own ownership status. When a Georgia resident passes away with no will in place, their estate is deemed intestate. This means that their assets will be distributed according to Georgia’s intestate succession laws because there is no will to divide assets according to the deceased’s wishes. When the estate enters Georgia’s probate court, the court administrator (this can be one of the heirs or a third party appointed by the court) will examine the estate and ensure that assets are divided according to the following laws, after first using the estate’s funds to pay off any outstanding debts, taxes, or liens:

• If the deceased has a spouse but no children, the entire estate passes to the spouse.
• If the deceased has children but no spouse, the estate is dividing evenly among the children. This includes all biological children, legally adopted children, and posthumous children. Additionally, if any of the children are deceased, their children (the deceased’s grandchildren), will then evenly inherit their parent’s share of the estate.
• If the deceased has a spouse and children, one-third of the estate will pass to the spouse, and the remaining two-thirds will be divided evenly between the children.
• If the deceased has no spouse and no children, the estate will then be divided in this order of priority:
  • If no spouse or children, to grandchildren
  • If no grandchildren, to parents
  • If no parents, to siblings
  • If no siblings, to nieces and nephews
  • If no nieces and nephews, to grandnieces and grandnephews
  • If no grandnieces and grandnephews, to grandparents
  • If no grandparents, to aunts and uncles
  • If no aunts and uncles, to cousins
• If all else fails and no surviving relatives can be found, the estate belonging to the deceased will be liquidated, and all funds will be transferred to the state.

Because these laws are so inflexible, you can look at Georgia’s succession to get an idea of what your share of the inherited property even if there is no will. This might help you start thinking about what you want to do with your inheritance.

2. Get a Professional Appraisal

When inheriting any property, its always smart to have the property professionally appraised in order to learn its value on your local Georgia market. Knowing this value helps you make more informed decisions about what can be done with the house. This lets you know if any repairs or updates will be necessary before listing or renting the property, as well as what a reasonable listing or selling price would be. You can get the home appraised by a professional appraiser, or you could commission a local Georgia real estate agent to appraise the property. Either way, this will help make sure that you know the condition and marketability of the property, which gives you a base as you move forward.

3. Working with Other Heirs

Assuming that you are inheriting a property with multiple heirs, which is very often the case when there is no will left in place, it is vital that you communicate with the other heirs, especially where it concerns how you want to handle the inherited Georgia estate (if you are the sole heir, you can skip to the next step).

Once Georgia’s probate process is complete and the property is legally declared to belong to you and the other heirs, it is completely up to all of you to figure out what to do with your inherited property: keep it, rent it, renovate it, sell it, etc. Obviously, the best outcome is one that all parties can agree on. Work with the other heirs to figure out what everyone wants to do with the property and how everyone might be willing to compromise. For example, if some of the heirs want to sell and one does not, that heir can buy the rest of the shares of the property in order to retain it.

4. Decide What to Do with the Property

Inheriting a property with no will leaves you with the same options as inheriting a property with a will: you can keep it, rent it out, or sell it.

Keeping the Inheriting Property

You have the option to retain your inherited Georgia property. In that case, it will be your responsibility to handle the usual costs of retaining a house, such as property taxes and utility bills. Luckily, retaining the property does eliminate any necessity for you to pay a capital gains tax, which only applies if you sell the property for a profit. Additionally, Georgia does not enforce a property tax, so you won’t have to pay that no matter what you decide to do with the property (unless you inherit an estate that exceeds the value of $13.61 million, in which case you will have to pay the federal estate tax).

Renting Out the Property

You can also keep your inherited property as a source of revenue by renting it out. This will involve you becoming a landlord, which is no small task if you aren’t familiar with the job. It will involve paying property taxes, finding and vetting tenants, and staying on top of the property’s maintenance, among other tasks. If this is the option for you, make sure you do plenty of research to prepare yourself for the job.

Selling the Property

You also have the choice to sell your inherited property. Even in Georgia’s sellers market, the selling process can be long and can involve a lot of work. You must first prepare your property for listing, which involves getting an appraisal and inspection, making repairs, and hiring a realtor. You may also have to wait several weeks for an offer after listing your property and going through weeks of showings, depending on how much demand there is in your local market. You may then have to wait for another month while preparing to close and ensuring that your buyer doesn’t fall through.

If you want a more convenient selling process, you can also consider selling to a professional homebuyer or real estate investor. These local companies buy properties as-is in cash. This allows you to bypass hurdles like repairs, showings, and waiting for buyer financing. Keep in mind that a professional homebuyer will likely make an offer on the lower side of your property’s fair market value, but you will be able to save on commissions, repairs, and closing costs, and also get a speedier closing with this process. If you are in a situation where profit comes second to speed, selling to real estate investor might be a serious consideration.

Summary

Inheriting a property with no will can be a surprising and difficult process, but with the right preparation, you can easily handle the situation. Even when there is no will, you can reference Georgia’s succession laws to figure out how much you are likely to inherit. You can also have a professional appraisal done on your inherited property in order to discover its fair market value and prepare yourself for keeping, renting, or selling the property so you can move on.

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