Year’s Support
Year’s Support Attorney in Atlanta, Georgia
- What is Year’s Support?
- What Are the Advantages of Year’s Support?
- What Should I Keep in Mind?
- Who Can Challenge Year’s Support?
- How We Can Help
As your Atlanta Year’s Support attorney, our Georgia law firm can help in the preparation of the petition and navigating the process involved with a Year’s Support Petition. We can help a spouse or the guardian of minor children present their petition and we can represent another beneficiary who would like to oppose the petition.
What is Year’s Support?
The “Year’s Support” is a law very specific to Georgia. In most states, surviving spouses and minor children are entitled to a portion of the estate by law, regardless of what the Will says.
However, in Georgia, the spouse and minor children can be excluded from the estate under a Will. Nonetheless, they still are entitled to one year of support from the estate, thus the creation of Year’s Support.
In a Year’s Support petition, the spouse or minor child requests a portion of the estate that will allow them to survive for a year. However, under Georgia law there is no limit to how much of the estate can be included in the Year’s Support petition, allowing the surviving spouse or minor child to include the all estate assets in their petition.
What Are the Advantages of Year’s Support?
The surviving spouse and minor children can take assets free of all estate debts, including one year of property tax. This is a great tool when estates hold debts that eat up a large amount of, if not all of, the estate assets. The advantage can be so great that many surviving spouses who were given assets under the Will have renounced their bequest and then chosen to take those assets under Year’s Support instead to avoid the debts.
As stated before, there is no limit to the size of what can be requested under Year’s Support, enabling the petitioner to request the entire estate.
Get your questions answered - Call for a complimentary strategy session at (404) 939-7562.
What Should I Keep in Mind?
It is important to remember that a Year’s Support petition must be filed within two years of the death of a loved one and can only reach assets that belong to the estate.
Before a surviving spouse or minor child file a Year’s Support petition, they should identify and inventory the contents of the estate. This can be a time-consuming step as many significant properties or accounts may be considered to be non-Probate assets as the ownership automatically transferred to someone upon death.
For example, a house or bank account may be owned as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Complete ownership would transfer to the surviving owner(s) of this property. Automobiles and other vehicles owned by multiple parties automatically transfer to the surviving owner(s).
Other property maybe titled to the name of a trust. These trust assets are not part of the estate and will be managed by a Trustee or Trustees.
Moreover, when a deceased dies with a membership or significant share of a company such as an S-Corp, LLC, LLP, et cetera, the transfer of the interest may be governed by bylaws or partnership agreement of the company.
Finally, the proceeds of retirement plans such as IRAs and 401(k) plans and life insurance policies typically go straight to the beneficiary as defined by the policy and are not included in the estate. However, if the life insurance has no stated beneficiary or the estate is named as beneficiary, then the policy proceeds must be included in the Probate of the estate to be transferred according to the Will.
The best way to understand what is in the estate and whether to include it in Probate is to consult an experienced Atlanta Year’s Support attorney who is experience in this area and can answer your questions.
Who Can Challenge Year’s Support?
Anyone with an interest in the estate, including those who will receive under the Will, those who are entitled to a part of the estate by statute, or those who are creditors of the estate are notified when the Year’s Support petition is filed and may challenge the petition. It is in the Probate Court’s discretion to reduce the award of Year’s Support in light of a challenge.
If you have filed a Year’s Support petition and have received opposition or desire to oppose a Year’s Support petition that has been filed, it is important to work with an experienced attorney.
How We Can Help
We assist surviving spouses, Heirs, Beneficiaries, creditors, or anyone with an interest in a Georgia estate. We can provide all necessary legal services needed by the client, including advice and consultation on all steps of the process of Probate, preparation and filing of all legal petitions and required documents, communication with all necessary parties, and resolution of all disputes. We have worked on Probate matters involving:
- Caveats
- Probate of Wills
- Petitions for Letters Testamentary
- Petition for Letters of Administration
- Administration of Intestate Estates
- Objections to Executors
- Objections to Administrators
- Intestacy proceedings
- Ancillary estates
- Inventories
- Tax management
- Final accounting
- Investing and distributing assets
- Gathering (“Marshaling”) and protecting assets
Finally, we understand the conflict that can occur within a family mourning the loss of a loved one and struggling to divide the estate. Our attorneys can work to prevent this from arising and turning into litigation. In the event that your family is struggling with issues surrounding the division of an estate or any other legal issue arising from the process of Probate, we have the knowledge and expertise to advise you.
Contact Us to Talk to our Atlanta & Marietta, GA Year’s Support Lawyers
If you have any questions or would like to get started, call our Atlanta office at (404) 939-7562 or contact us online for a free consultation.
Get your questions answered - Call for a complimentary strategy session at (404) 939-7562.