---
title: O.C.G.A. § 33-25-11. Cash surrender value and proceeds of life insurance policies and annuity contracts not liable to attachment, garnishment, or legal process in favor of creditors; proceeds becoming part of insured’s estate.
collection: code
id: 33-25-11
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 33-25-11 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/33-25-11
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/33-25-11.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/33-25-11/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t33-ch23-65-(v25)-2020-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=68297_0#page=449
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/33-25.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: INSURANCE / LIFE INSURANCE
---

# O.C.G.A. § 33-25-11. Cash surrender value and proceeds of life insurance policies and annuity contracts not liable to attachment, garnishment, or legal process in favor of creditors; proceeds becoming part of insured’s estate.

(a) Whenever any person residing in the state shall die leaving insurance on his or her life, such insurance shall inure exclusively to the benefit of the person for whose use and benefit such insurance is designated in the policy, and the proceeds thereof shall be exempt from the claims of creditors of the insured unless the insurance policy or a valid assignment thereof provides otherwise. Whenever the insurance, by designation or otherwise, is payable to the insured or to the insured’s estate or to his or her executors, administrators, or assigns, the insurance proceeds shall become a part of the insured’s estate for all purposes and shall be administered by the personal representative of the estate of the insured in accordance with the probate laws of the state in like manner as other assets of the insured’s estate.

(b) Payments as directed in this Code section shall, in every such case, discharge the insurer from any further liability under the policy, and the insurer shall in no event be responsible for, or be required to see to, the application of such payments.

(c) The cash surrender values of life insurance policies issued upon the lives of citizens or residents of this state, upon whatever form, shall not in any case be liable to attachment, garnishment, or legal process in favor of any creditor of the person whose life is so insured unless the insurance policy was assigned to or was effected for the benefit of such creditor or unless the purchase, sale, or transfer of the policy is made with the intent to defraud creditors.

## History

Ga. L. 1933, p. 181, § 1; Code 1933, § 56-905; Code 1933, § 56-2505, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 33; Ga. L. 2006, p. 885, § 1/HB 1304.

## Law Reviews

For annual survey on insurance law, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 151 (2012). For article, ‘‘Consumer Bankruptcy Panel: Hot Consumer Bankruptcy Plan Issues,’’ see 28 Emory Bankr. Dev. J. 333 (2012). For annual survey on bankruptcy law, see 64 Mercer L. Rev. 849 (2013). For annual survey of bankruptcy law, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 819 (2016).