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Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 53. WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES · Chapter 7. ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES GENERALLY · Article 4. CLAIMS AGAINST OR IN FAVOR OF ESTATE

53-7-40. Liability of estate; priority of claims.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

  1. Unless otherwise provided by law, all property of the estate, both real and personal, shall be liable for the payment of claims against the estate in the following order:

  2. (1)

    Year’s support for the family;#

  3. (2)

    Funeral expenses, whether or not the decedent leaves a surviving spouse, in an amount which corresponds with the circumstances of the decedent in life. If the estate is solvent, the personal representative is authorized to provide a suitable protection for the grave;#

  4. (3)

    Other necessary expenses of administration;#

  5. (4)

    Reasonable expenses of the decedent’s last illness;#

  6. (5)

    Unpaid taxes or other debts due the state or the United States;#

  7. (6)

    Judgments, secured interests, and other liens created during the lifetime of the decedent, to be paid according to their priority of lien. Secured interests and other liens on specific property shall be preferred only to the extent of such property; and#

  8. (7)

    All other claims.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Code 1981, § 53-7-40, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10.

Cross references

Action against representative of joint obligor of a note, bill, bond, or other obligation in writing, § 9-2-27. Priority of tax liens generally, § 48-2-56.

Administrative rules and regulations

Recovery of assistance; no estate, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Estate Recovery, Department of Community Health, Medical Assistance, Estate Recovery, Sec. 111-3-8-.06.

Law reviews

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 comment on King v. Dalton, 85 Ga. App. 641, 69 S.E.2d 907 (1952), see 15 Ga. B.J. 211 (1952).

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t52-t53-(v40)-2021-pdf.pdf, Volume V40, 2021 edition, page 600; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 062775612dfc.