SB608: SB608 Administration of Estates; summary administration of certain estates; provide

Under current Georgia law, estates typically go through the standard probate process set out in Title 53 of the Official Code of Georgia. This bill adds a new option called summary administration for estates that either total $75,000 or less (not counting property already exempt from creditors) or where more than two years have passed since the person died. It would apply whether or not the deceased person lived in Georgia, as long as any will does not require a different process. A person with an interest in the estate would file a verified petition in court, notify any beneficiaries or trustees who did not join the petition, and if the death was recent, show the court they searched for creditors and arranged payment for them. If the court grants the request, it can order immediate distribution of the estate's assets. The bill also sets rules for how creditors, heirs, and buyers of estate property are protected or bound afterward. It would take effect July 1, 2026.

• Creates a new legal process called 'summary administration' for estates worth $75,000 or less, or for estates open more than two years after death.
• Allows any person with an interest in an eligible estate to file a verified petition asking a court to order immediate distribution of assets.
• Requires the petitioner to search for and notify known creditors and arrange payment for them if the death occurred less than two years before filing.
• Sets a three month deadline for creditors to file claims after the petitioner publishes notice of the summary administration order, or lose the right to collect.
• Makes beneficiaries who receive property under a summary administration order personally liable, up to the value they received, for a share of valid creditor claims.
• Protects good-faith purchasers of estate property distributed under a summary administration order from creditor claims and competing claims by other beneficiaries.

Heirs, beneficiaries, and executors handling small or long-delayed estates; creditors owed money by a deceased person; trustees and trust beneficiaries named in a will; and anyone who buys property that was distributed through a summary administration order.

Families settling modest estates, or estates left unresolved for years, could avoid the time and cost of full probate. Creditors would face tighter deadlines to file claims, and beneficiaries who receive property this way could later be held personally responsible for paying valid debts of the estate.

• Section 53-7-100 names the new law the 'Summary Administration Act of 2026.'
• Section 53-7-101 sets eligibility: estates worth $75,000 or less after exempt property, or estates where more than two years have passed since death, and it applies to nonresident decedents too.
• Section 53-7-102 requires a verified petition and notice to any beneficiaries or trust representatives who do not join the petition.
• Section 53-7-103 requires a creditor search and payment arrangements before a court order is entered if death occurred within two years, and lets the court order immediate distribution of assets.
• Section 53-7-104 lets creditors file claims or intervene before an order is entered, sets a three month deadline for claims after published notice, and makes beneficiaries personally liable up to the value of property received.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-03Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)Primary sponsor
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)

• estate administration
• probate law
• inheritance
• creditor claims
• wills and estates