---
title: O.C.G.A. § 53-4-55. Construction of wills; intention of testator.
collection: code
id: 53-4-55
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 53-4-55 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/53-4-55
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/53-4-55.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/53-4-55/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t52-t53-(v40)-2021-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=d23ba203_0#page=413
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.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES / WILLS / CONSTRUCTION OF WILL; TESTAMENTARY GIFTS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 53-4-55. Construction of wills; intention of testator.

In the construction of all wills, the court shall seek diligently for the intention of the testator and shall give effect to such intention as far as it may be consistent with the rules of law. Provided the proof of intention is clear and convincing, the court may transpose sentences or clauses, change conjunctions, and supply or delete words in cases in which a sentence or clause as it stands is unintelligible or inoperative in context.

## History

Code 1981, § 53-4-55, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10.

## Law Reviews

For article discussing problems in construction of instrument conveying gift to a group or class, see 6 Ga. St. B.J. 169 (1969). For article, ‘‘The Time Gap in Wills: Shifting Assets and Shrinking Estates — Obsolescence and Testamentary Planning in Georgia,’’ see 6 Ga. L. Rev. 649 (1972). For annual survey of wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 403 (2005).

For note discussing construction and interpretation of wills, see 1 Ga. L. Rev. No. 1, p. 46 (1927).