Comité Agriculture and Consumer Affairs del Senado, 18 de marzo de 2026

Transcripción

385 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:07:58

   Have a quorum yet. Yes. We've one, two, three, four. We got a quorum. We have a quorum. All right. We're gonna call this meeting to order. I know the hour is late and everybody's tired and everybody's brain is fried, but we still got a little work left to do. Some of us have a 8:30 Health and Human Services too. 8:30. Is it 8:00 or 8:30? 8:30.

2. 0:08:15

   8:30.

3. 0:08:16

   8:00. Okay. 8:30.

4. 0:08:18

   8:30.

5. 0:08:18

   It's 8:30.

6. 0:08:19

   My God. So let's go ahead.

7. 0:08:20

   It's 8:30. Uh, as we, as is always, uh, y'all, we're gonna start off with a word of prayer. Uh, I wanna ask, uh, Senator Hatchett. What number are you, Senator Hatchett?

8. 0:08:29

   Lucky number 13.

9. 0:08:31

   Number 13. All right. Senator, go ahead.

10. 0:08:35

    Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today. Thank you for getting us all here safely. Uh, God, I know the hour is late, but please, uh, give us the energy and the wisdom to do your work. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

11. 0:08:48

    Amen. Thank you, Senator. All right. Uh, to start off with, and I always mess this up, and so y'all excuse me because I'm sure I'm gonna mess it up this time. But we have a, um, appointment that we need to, uh, take care of, of the, uh, to the Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission. And, uh, in your folder you should see a, um, a brief resume from Mr. Jerry Mizell. Very last page there. Uh, my understanding is, uh, you see it there at the end.

12. 0:09:21

    That is, uh, it's a...

13. 0:09:27

    Seems like a good fella to me. But, uh-

14. 0:09:32

    I can.

15. 0:09:33

    Yeah.

16. 0:09:33

    I can.

17. 0:09:34

    Is there a- Motion to approve the nomination. Okay. Uh, just for the benefit of, what are you number down there, Mr. Chairman? What number is that? 12. 12. All right.

18. 0:09:47

    Uh, motion to approve, uh, Mr. Gerald Jerry, uh, Mizell Jr. for nomination to the Commodity Commission.

19. 0:09:55

    All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have, we have a second, um, from Senator Howard. All right, and if there's no, uh, no further discussion, all in favor please signify by saying I. I. All right. Good deal. We got that item of business behind us. Also, the next item of business, I'm just gonna present this. I told Chairman Dickey that, that he didn't need to come. Um, but it's the, uh, the Joint Study Committee on Generational Sustainability of Family Farms. Uh, we've already passed the Senate ver- uh, the Senate version out, and I just wanted to pass the House version out so that we have two, uh, have it in both chambers.

20. 0:10:30

    Just, you know, wanna make sure that it gets passed. So, um, at the proper time I'll, uh, accept a motion on that as well, please. So moved. All right. Um, Chairman Burns.

21. 0:10:41

    Yep.

22. 0:10:42

    Go ahead.

23. 0:10:44

    Uh, move to pass House Resolution 1416.

24. 0:10:47

    Okay. Thank-

25. 0:10:48

    HC443465.

26. 0:10:50

    All right. Thank you, Chairman. Where did my second come from? Second. All right. Chairman Watson. Got Chairman, uh, Chairman Watson second. All right. No further discussion. All in favor, please signify by saying I. I. All right. Carries unanimously just as before. All right. Next, uh, we'd like to ask, uh, Representative David Jenkins to come up, if you don't mind. The floor is yours, my friend. Uh, we're working on a committee substitute. I think Sarah has, uh, provided that in your, uh, in your folder. And, um, with that, uh, Representative, floor is yours.

27. 0:11:25

    Tell us about your bill.

28. 0:11:27

    Yes, sir. So I am, uh, Representative David Jenkins, House District 136, and I am here to present, uh, substitute for House Bill 413. Uh, this bill was brought to this committee last year and laid on the table. And, um, we are going to use this, uh, for another purpose tonight.

29. 0:11:48

    Okay.

30. 0:11:49

    Um, so this bill that we are, that I'm gonna present tonight w- was born as House Bill 899. And, uh, it was, uh, passed out of, uh, House Judiciary. It made it to Rules. A lot of collaboration. A lot of collaboration that happened kinda late. So we, we got it, uh, to be heard on crossover day, and it just didn't make it. So that's why we're doing this today. It's a very important bill. And, um, and I'll, I'll go ahead and, and kinda start giving you the, the down low.

31. 0:12:21

    So, uh, I'm joined by LaShea Callaway. Sh- she is, uh, the primary author of the bill, uh, with Callaway Law and, uh, the Georgia Real Estate Closing Attorneys Association. Um, so this bill, uh, deals with transfer on death deeds. Uh, this, um, this m- method of transferring conveying property was brought into Georgia law at the end of the last biennial. It was, uh, uh, brought by Rob Leverett.

32. 0:12:53

    It was, uh, a, an initiative that, uh, the s- the, the pro tem in our house was very interested in. Uh, they got it passed. Um, a lot of public excitement on this. When I talk to people, I tell them what I'm doing. Uh, there's a lot of interest in this bill. So it's, it's very popular. It's very consumer friendly. Um, my, my wife's aunt actually, uh, passed away, uh, in January and, and she s- she tr- conveyed her property with a transfer on death deed. And, and since I was working on it, we talked about that.

33. 0:13:24

    And it's, so it's out there. It's being used. But this was a, a major change for Georgia law. And once, uh, this, this made it in, uh, out into the legal community, there, there developed some problems that needed to be addressed. So that's what this effort was. We're, we don't intend to change it in any way. We just wanna fix it and, and take some things that, that were not working very well in this law and, uh, and refine them so that, so that it, it blended better into Georgia law.

34. 0:13:55

    Um, I think this was, like a lot of things like this came from another state, so, so some things didn't quite fit quite as well as it should. So it's very important that we act on this because this is affecting people and, and we'll go over all that shortly. I won't go into all that right now. But there are some things that really do need to be fixed here. Um, this is a- An, a long collaborative effort since this was in Georgia law, um, we didn't wanna be hasty with this.

35. 0:14:27

    I actually dropped this bill at the end of last session so that it would be a matter of record, so we could invite collaboration, and, uh, and we've had quite a bit. Um, basically, we've had, uh, the Georgia Real Estate, uh, Closing Attorney Asso- Association with LaShay Callaway and Callaway Law. Um, the, um... Actually, I'll, I'll let her go through the list of collaborators 'cause she knows that better than me. But- ...

36. 0:14:57

    um, you know, I primarily, I'm a vessel in this whole process. Uh, I'm not an attorney, but I, I, I've certainly had the honor to work with some very, uh, very capable attorneys and some, and some very prominent people in their field. So this is, this whole process, uh, has been a great honor. Um, and, and that's partly why we wound up at crossover day 'cause we had collaboration. We were, you know, trying to be ready to go with this when session began, but the collaboration continued, and there were some, some people that wanted input. And, and again, we wanted to, we wanted to do this right, so, um, so here we are today, and I'm gonna have the expert present the bill, LaShay Callaway.

37. 0:15:37

    Good evening, everyone. Um, so again, my name is LaShay Callaway with Callaway Law, member of GRECCA, which is the Georgia Real Estate Closing Attorneys Association. And the collaboration, we did work with a lot of people on this. So, um, attorney Hilary Fentress with, um, VP and regional counsel of Fidelity National Financial. So in her individual capacity, but she works with title companies. Um, we also had Jeff Leford, which is the Georgia Association of Realtors, Greg Allen, which is the Clerks of Superior Court and the Georgia Clerk's Authority, and as well as Kyle King.

38. 0:16:13

    In his individual capacity, um, he's the legislative chair with the fiduciary law section. So the short of it is this, because I know you guys have had a long day. Um, the transfer on death deed is a deed that allows people to transfer their property by signing a, a deed similar to a warranty deed. And so when they pass away, the beneficiaries, whomever they've left as the beneficiaries in that deed, are able to accept the property, and it's theirs. They don't have to go through probate. So it-

39. 0:16:44

    Mm-hmm

40. 0:16:44

    ... it doesn't transfer until death, and it doesn't transfer until the person accepts it. So those are the two main parts of the transfer on death deed. As David explained, uh, Representative Jenkins, there were some, um... Once the law was passed in July of 2024, we in the legal community noticed some issues that needed to be fixed. And so that's what the purpose of this bill was, was to just fix some of the, um, issues that we've um, come up, uh, in the last two years.

41. 0:17:15

    So, um, I will leave it at that and leave the floor open for any questions. Um, we also have people, um, we have Hilary Fentress here to testify. We also have Jeff Ledford-

42. 0:17:27

    Thank you

43. 0:17:27

    ... with the Georgia Association of Realtors and Greg Allen with the clerks, um, to testify in support of this bill. So we have a lot of support and collaboration.

44. 0:17:38

    All right.

45. 0:17:38

    And-

46. 0:17:39

    We've got, uh, got some lights lighting up. Number 14 went first, so, uh, Senator Kemp.

47. 0:17:45

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank y'all, uh, for bringing this. I'm not an attorney, so I'm just trying to figure this process out. So how does one accept it? You said that it does not transfer until-

48. 0:17:55

    There's an, um, in the code section that's already in place, there's an affidavit that they file that says that they accept it, and they file it with a copy of the death certificate. That's how the clerks know and everyone else knows that someone is actually... I should say they can prove that someone has actually passed away.

49. 0:18:11

    Got it. Thank you.

50. 0:18:12

    All right. Thank you. Um, Chairman Burns.

51. 0:18:17

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, just to help me understand, so originally, House Bill 899 went through the normal process of the House. Is that not true?

52. 0:18:26

    That is correct, sir.

53. 0:18:26

    All right. And it went through judiciary. Is that not right? Is that true?

54. 0:18:29

    That is correct.

55. 0:18:30

    All right. And so what we see here is some cleanup language to some prior legislation that was adopted. Help me with the history.

56. 0:18:39

    It was adopted at the end of the last, uh, biennial. Uh, Rob Leverett carried it. He actually-

57. 0:18:45

    So '24?

58. 0:18:47

    Uh, that was, uh, '24, yes.

59. 0:18:50

    '24. And, and so this is not new- necessarily a new concept or new language. It is, uh, making some adjustments to existing language. And, you know, my, my good friend, Senator Howard, I neither, I'm not an attorney either. Thank goodness we have at least one attorney, uh, on the- ... committee, and I'm grateful for that. So I'm gonna defer to, uh, Senator Hatchett for his wisdom as we work through this. So-

60. 0:19:17

    Roger, sir

61. 0:19:18

    ... help us out, Bo.

62. 0:19:19

    And, and you should have a hand-

63. 0:19:20

    This, this looks more like a lawyer bill to me . Okay.

64. 0:19:23

    You should have a handout in your packet that, that kinda-

65. 0:19:26

    Yeah, it kinda-

66. 0:19:27

    ... says-

67. 0:19:27

    ... does a compare and contrast

68. 0:19:28

    ... does compare and contrast what we do.

69. 0:19:29

    But I would just point out, this has nothing to do with mobile sawmills. Is that not true?

70. 0:19:33

    That is correct.

71. 0:19:34

    All right.

72. 0:19:34

    Yes, sir.

73. 0:19:34

    Very good. Just to clarify that. All right. Thank you. We'll, uh, we'll continue.

74. 0:19:38

    Just-

75. 0:19:38

    But-

76. 0:19:38

    ... just out of curiosity, how long has, in the state of Georgia, have, uh, have we had, uh, joint tenants with rights of survivorship deeds? How long has it, have we had those?

77. 0:19:50

    A really long time.

78. 0:19:50

    Right.

79. 0:19:50

    A really long time.

80. 0:19:50

    Right.

81. 0:19:51

    Okay. All right.

82. 0:19:51

    Um, so joint tenants with rights of survivorship deeds are a little different than these, though, in, in that, um, joint tenants with rights of survivorship are, are great when you're married and/or if it's someone that, um, like if you're doing with siblings or whatever, but, or what have you. But when you're doing a transfer on death deed, or one of the reasons why a transfer on death deed is helpful now is because when parents, which I should ex- explain my background, I'm a real estate, estate planning, and probate attorney. So this is where, you know, this was a cross-section, this transfer on death deed was a cross-section of all of my practice areas.

83. 0:20:26

    What we find is that a lot of people will want to add their children to title so that they don't have to go through probate.

84. 0:20:33

    Yes.

85. 0:20:34

    Um, and the problem with that is that they, if they do it with a joint tenant with rights of survivorship, they lose the step, the children lose their step-up in basis, which means that they could pay hefty tax penalties once their parents actually pass away. This transfer on death deed allows them to tr- the parents to transfer it to their children without losing that step-up in basis. So the children get the property without having to go through probate, and they also don't lose their tax, uh- ... shelter. So that's one of the reasons why a lot of people are excited about this bill is because it gives them another way to do it.

86. 0:21:07

    So the joint tenants with right of survivorship, when they're leaving it to kids, their children were getting hit with hefty tax bills. If the parents then decided to do a life estate, well, then they lose all control over their house while they're still alive because they only retain the right to live there, but not to do anything with their property. This transfer on death deed allows them to... It's revocable, so they are still able to refinance their house if they need to. They're able to add an addition to the back , you know, of the house without having any concerns because this transfer on death deed is out there.

87. 0:21:46

    Mm.

88. 0:21:46

    So this transfer on death deed is kind of the, the perfect marriage, if you will, between what the life estate and the joint tenants with rights or survivorship wanted to do with- uh, without, um, having any of the blowback or implications. That's why so many people are excited about this.

89. 0:22:02

    So are there currently these transfer on death deeds being done now?

90. 0:22:07

    Yes, which is why... So some of the issues that we are experiencing, because they're doing them now, um, so because of the way the statute reads, um, and there are some ambiguities and inconsistencies, unfortunately, um, people are losing their homestead exemptions because of the un- inconsistencies with the way the c- current statute reads.

91. 0:22:31

    Okay.

92. 0:22:31

    And it's just because of some things that are filed incorrectly, but they, uh, understandably filed incorrectly, which is why, you know, this need came, um, you know, arose so we could fix that. So they're losing their homestead exemption. So you're having elderly people that have their senior citizen discount that they, you know, they worked hard to get to that age, and they deserve that exemption. And because they're doing their estate planning where they want to leave this to their children, it knocked them out unintentionally.

93. 0:23:03

    And then they m- most of the time don't find out until after the tax bills are due, um, and that they're paying this higher rate because it looks like it went to their children now-

94. 0:23:14

    Mm

95. 0:23:14

    ... instead of later when they passed away.

96. 0:23:16

    So one more question, if you don't mind. If, if, if someone has a property now that's in a joint tenant with rights of survivorship, and they want to... And it's, um, say if it's a mom and a sib- uh, and a child, or a, a father and child or whatever, you know, and they w- and they wanna m- move it to a transfer on death deed, is there any penalties or anything? Is that a, is it, is it, is that a cumbersome process or no?

97. 0:23:42

    It's not. So actually the current statute already accounts for that. Um, it also defines, you know, what is considered a joint tenants with rights of survivorship in the current statute. And the short, simplest way to explain it is whoever dies last is the one, the transfer on death deed is, you know, effective for that person.

98. 0:24:00

    Okay.

99. 0:24:00

    So if you have a husband and wife, and the husband wants to leave it to his daughter, but the, the mother wants to leave it to the son, between the husband and wife, whoever passes away last, their transfer on death deed is the one that controls. Which makes sense because when you have joint tenants with rights of survivorship, it automatically goes to whoever the spouse that's still living, right?

100. 0:24:22

     Mm-hmm.

101. 0:24:22

     And so if it automatically goes to that spouse when you pass away, then that means that that spouse is the only one that has the ability to transfer anything from their death with regarding that house, if that makes sense.

102. 0:24:38

     I gotcha. Um, Chairman Burns has a question.

103. 0:24:40

     Yeah, uh, just a clarification question. So, so if, if, if I use this tool, transfer on death deed, I still retain ownership of the property?

104. 0:24:49

     Yes, sir.

105. 0:24:49

     And I have full rights of ownership?

106. 0:24:51

     You do.

107. 0:24:51

     So I could sell my own property?

108. 0:24:53

     You could.

109. 0:24:53

     Would I have to revoke the-

110. 0:24:55

     Great question. No. Once you-

111. 0:24:57

     You would not have to revoke your-

112. 0:24:58

     Once you sell the property, that is considered a revocation based on how we are revising the bill. We're making that clear. That's one of the things that's in here.

113. 0:25:07

     Very-

114. 0:25:07

     So very good question.

115. 0:25:08

     Yes. Thank you.

116. 0:25:09

     Mm-hmm.

117. 0:25:10

     All right.

118. 0:25:12

     Chairman Anderson.

119. 0:25:15

     Thank you. Thank you, Representative, for bringing this bill. Um, give you, ask you a couple of scenarios. I know you keep, you keep referring to children.

120. 0:25:30

     What if it's like the old country song, well, daddy didn't leave it to the children, and the guy, he just met a guy at the bar, and he liked the guy at the bar. And, uh, he said, "I'm, I'm doing okay."

121. 0:25:48

     I understand the question. So, um, to the extent that if they don't leave it to... Like, whomever the beneficiary is-

122. 0:25:56

     Yeah

123. 0:25:57

     ... that beneficiary has to accept the property in order to receive it. If they don't accept it, then it remains in s- it remains in the estate until someone accepts it. So title doesn't transfer until someone accepts it that was listed on the deed.

124. 0:26:14

     All right. My other scenario is say they did leave it to your children, say you got two children, but the two children don't get along. Uh, and they, and you leave it equally.

125. 0:26:29

     So the s-

126. 0:26:30

     Somehow-

127. 0:26:31

     That's the same thing. It's the same principle that happens now when someone, a parent, leaves, uh, w- a property to children and they don't get along. They could leave it in a will. They could leave it in a trust. They could leave it if they added them as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.

128. 0:26:45

     But what you just said, though, it don't come effect until whoever they left it to-

129. 0:26:51

     Accepts it

130. 0:26:52

     ... accepts it.

131. 0:26:53

     Correct. So-

132. 0:26:53

     So what if one of them did and one of them didn't?

133. 0:26:56

     The one that accepts it gets their share, and then the other one, if they don't want to accept it, they can sign something saying that they do- they're giving their share to the sister, I mean, the sibling or-

134. 0:27:07

     But they don't get along.

135. 0:27:08

     If they don't, there's usually an attorney involved at that point- ... when siblings don't get a- get along. Um, trust me. I can attest to that.

136. 0:27:15

     I think it's-

137. 0:27:16

     I mean, I, I, I've seen it. I mean-

138. 0:27:18

     Yeah.

139. 0:27:18

     I think it's fair to say, Mr. Chairman, if everybody got along, we wouldn't need attorneys.

140. 0:27:21

     Right.

141. 0:27:24

     Well, except for closings. You still wanna come to me for that.

142. 0:27:26

     Yeah.

143. 0:27:27

     Yeah.

144. 0:27:27

     Yeah. We've got-

145. 0:27:28

     I-

146. 0:27:28

     I think we, I think we've got our attorney on the, on the committee asking the question. Is that correct? Is that, uh, 13?

147. 0:27:36

     Yes, Mr. Chairman.

148. 0:27:36

     Okay, go ahead.

149. 0:27:38

     And the last time I had to deal with- ... joint right of survivorship and the rule of perpetuities was when I was-

150. 0:27:44

     Oh, goodness

151. 0:27:44

     ... settling, or s- excuse me, when I was studying for the bar. But-

152. 0:27:48

     Dogs

153. 0:27:48

     ... okay, the TOD process.

154. 0:27:52

     Yes.

155. 0:27:53

     Right now, I, I understand the ambiguity in the law. So

156. 0:28:02

     one of the saddest things that we deal with in a small town, people call me, right? "Hey, Granddad passed away. Mom passed away. They didn't leave a will," right? And then Georgia has interstate laws-

157. 0:28:15

     Yes

158. 0:28:15

     ... that are more complicated than you can imagine with, you know-

159. 0:28:19

     I-

160. 0:28:19

     You know. You know

161. 0:28:20

     ... I do, actually.

162. 0:28:20

     Yeah, how you have to split it up, who has a right.

163. 0:28:23

     Mm-hmm.

164. 0:28:23

     But you can't do anything until you set up the estate and y- okay. This, you don't have to set up an estate at all.

165. 0:28:30

     Correct.

166. 0:28:30

     And it automatically transfers. So if grandfather passes away and owns land, wants to leave land to grandson who loves farming, for example-

167. 0:28:41

     Mm-hmm

168. 0:28:41

     ... it's actually titled in-

169. 0:28:44

     Great

170. 0:28:44

     ... that name, and upon the death of the grandfather, it's immediately transferred to the grandson.

171. 0:28:49

     The grandson has the immediate ability to accept it, I think, is the better way of thinking about it. So once-

172. 0:28:55

     Okay

173. 0:28:55

     ... so the deed does say that it's in Grandson Farmer, right? It's in Grandson Farmer's name, and then upon the death of Grandfather Farmer, Grandson Farmer takes Grandfather's death certificate and the affidavit and says, "I'm, I'm accepting this property," and it's his.

174. 0:29:15

     Okay.

175. 0:29:15

     So no probate is needed. No estate is needed.

176. 0:29:19

     And inheritance tax and all that?

177. 0:29:22

     So Georgia is really good about not having an inheritance tax for, you know, on the state level. And then the, on the federal level, unless the grandfather's estate was more than, I believe it's 15 million this year-

178. 0:29:37

     Mm-hmm

179. 0:29:37

     ... then you don't have to worry about it either.

180. 0:29:38

     Okay.

181. 0:29:39

     Mm-hmm.

182. 0:29:39

     So this process kind of

183. 0:29:45

     can operate in place of a joint tenanc- tenancy with a right of survivorship that some people have to do now, where grandfather goes ahead and deeds the property in a joint name between him and the grandson, and when he passes away, if he has the joint right of, or the right of survivorship, then it automatically transfers to him. This is just a cleaner way to do it. It'll stay in the grandfather's name until he passes away, and then it automatically goes-

184. 0:30:13

     Mm-hmm

185. 0:30:14

     ... to the grandson-

186. 0:30:15

     Mm-hmm

187. 0:30:15

     ... and it will ultimately create a lot less paperwork on the grandson's side. 'Cause one of the worst things is-

188. 0:30:26

     Heirs property

189. 0:30:27

     ... well, that and just dealing with the paperwork after a loss of a loved one.

190. 0:30:32

     I know. Yeah. And that's one of the things that I, you know, I say that I do the happy side of law with real estate and estate planning. Um, and for the record, if any farmer or anyone has over 15 million in assets, they need to work with an attorney anyway-

191. 0:30:45

     Right

192. 0:30:45

     ... for, to avoid the estate taxes, which they can come to me, and I can help them with that. But, um, when it comes to probate, it's not a happy side of law, but I take comfort and pride in helping them through the worst time of their life, and so that's one of the reasons why this is so important to me, because I know this can be, uh, very helpful. Also, my grandparents were farmers, and, you know, so when you're saying Grandfather Farmer, and my grandfather was, left property, you know, acres and acres in another town.

193. 0:31:17

     And so the heirs property situation that we had to go through with him, we don't have to do that anymore in Georgia because of this, and we're just making it cleaner.

194. 0:31:29

     Right. Okay, so you... The only hangup that I have is you were explaining something about the homestead exemption. So if it's the grandfather's homestead-

195. 0:31:40

     Yes

196. 0:31:41

     ... it transfers to the grandson upon death. The homestead exemption stays-

197. 0:31:47

     It should stay

198. 0:31:47

     ... with the property?

199. 0:31:48

     Yes. It sh- well, it should stay with the grandfather, and so that's where I was saying, without getting too technical, but I'll go into it, um, there's a form that you file when you file a deed. It's called a PT-61. It's a transfer tax form. And so the way that the current statute is laid out, it doesn't tell you when to file that PT-61. And normally, in Georgia, we always file the PT-61s with deeds, so that's what people have been doing. But in this situation, since the title doesn't transfer until someone accepts the property, that PT-61 should not be filed until they, they sh- sh- until they accept it with the affidavit.

200. 0:32:27

     But because people are filing it when they file the transfer on death deed, that's how, unfortunately, the tax assessor's office is thinking, or tax commissioner's office, is thinking that they've already transferred their property because this p- this transfer tax form was filed with the deed. That's how they're inadvertently, mistakenly losing their homestead right now, which is what we are addressing, one of the things we address here.

201. 0:32:57

     And would this allow the benefit of the homestead exemption to transfer to the grandson if he does accept it?

202. 0:33:04

     No. So they won't say-

203. 0:33:05

     Ah. Can it?

204. 0:33:05

     You were like, "I was gonna do it."

205. 0:33:06

     'Cause that's the biggest thing. You know-

206. 0:33:08

     Yeah, no

207. 0:33:08

     ... people who can't afford-

208. 0:33:09

     No, the homestead exemption, unfortunately, is per person. That's why I said, you know, elderly citizens that are receiving their- Their discount right now have earned every bit of that, you know, making it to this age or that age. But no, unfortunately, the 25-year-old grandson cannot, you know, benefit, and that doesn't transfer with it, no.

209. 0:33:29

     Maybe in another piece of legislation.

210. 0:33:31

     Right.

211. 0:33:31

     But thank you for explaining that.

212. 0:33:32

     We'll work on that bill this next time.

213. 0:33:32

     This is a good bill. I appreciate you.

214. 0:33:33

     We've got, uh... All right, Senator Watson, you are blinking, but you off now?

215. 0:33:40

     Well, I just, I guess clarification. Um, when you sign up for this, do you have to specify what, what land or property that you will-

216. 0:33:49

     Yes

217. 0:33:50

     ... g- if you have multiple children, would you specify when you sign up, "You're gonna get this land lot, this, this many acres, this farm here on this location"?

218. 0:33:59

     So this is just like-

219. 0:34:00

     Very specific

220. 0:34:00

     ... um, this is just like any other deed. So when you buy your house and it sa- it ha- you have to include a legal description, and it says what you're getting. So if you have three different pieces of property and you want to leave lot, property A, property B, and property C to three different children, you would do three separate deeds because you, like each deed that you ha- you have, you need to have a legal description, um, to refer to that particular, whatever you're deeding to them.

221. 0:34:29

     So but if you have a, a 4- a 400-acre tract and you wanna give each child 100 acres a piece, do you have to go ahead and survey that out and, and r- put that... How do, how does that work if you-

222. 0:34:41

     You know, it's a very good question. So, um, that's a scenario I'm familiar with, but I did not necessarily, uh, think that one out for how this would work with a TOD. So let me see. If you have 400 acres and you wanna give 100 acres a piece, I think that you can... It depends on, I guess, what the grantor wants to do. If he wants each child to have east, you know, like so let's say, um, north, south, east, west acres, and they know what those acres are, and he says, "This is for, I'm deeding 100 black," you know, like well let's say, "123 black acre to my four children," that and it consists of, you know, the legal description says that it's 400 acres.

223. 0:35:30

     And then it says, um, "I'm leaving one, I'm leaving the north parcel to son A, or son one, the south, the southern parcel," you can do that. Because right now, if you wanted to leave a one quarter, if you wanted to leave where you had four children and you want one child to have half of the property, half interest in the property, and then you want, um, two other children to split the other half, then you can do that in a deed right now. So whatever you can do in a current deed, you can do in a transfer on death deed.

224. 0:36:02

     And whether you... You do need to be specific if you're trying to leave a certain portion of the land to a certain child. But whether you have to go ahead and get that subdivided now, which is really what you're asking-

225. 0:36:16

     Mm-hmm

226. 0:36:16

     ... if the children will know what it means, then you probably don't. But if they won't know or if it's kind of ambiguous, we would probably rec- You know, any attorney would say, "Go ahead and get this subdivided now." Um, but you could always bootstrap your transfer on death deed with a will, and you could say, "This is what I want each child to get," so it's very clear as well. You know, it doesn't hurt to, you know, have your belts and suspenders with these kind, in those kinds of situations.

227. 0:36:46

     Gotcha. Okay. Thank you.

228. 0:36:48

     All right. Thank you, Chair.

229. 0:36:52

     Uh, S- Senator Howard.

230. 0:36:54

     Thank you. It's, uh, very interesting. Thank you so much for, to bringing this bill. Um, does, uh, primary residence versus secondary residence matter here as long as it's in the person's name?

231. 0:37:06

     Not at all.

232. 0:37:07

     And is the process of just go to a real estate attorney and... Well, not a real estate attorney, but-

233. 0:37:13

     Well, no, I mean, so real estate, preferably a real estate attorney.

234. 0:37:16

     Okay.

235. 0:37:16

     Yeah, but, um, so that's actually one of the great things about this, is it, uh, gives people a little more freedom where they don't have to go to an attorney because the current statute already has a transfer on death deed in the statute, a form, boilerplate form that they can just print out and fill in. Um-

236. 0:37:34

     So they, where would they get the form? So if someone's listening to this, they're like, "Oh, I need to do this deed."

237. 0:37:39

     So if they, you know, if they can go to the Georgia Assembly, they're able to get all of the code section-

238. 0:37:44

     Yeah

239. 0:37:44

     ... and, you know, just pull up 44-17-3, the form is right-

240. 0:37:47

     And they don't need an attorney at all, just-

241. 0:37:49

     It's right there

242. 0:37:49

     ... as long as it's in there.

243. 0:37:49

     And it's probably already online somewhere. Um, wouldn't be surprised. And but it, that's it when it's really simple. I would say-

244. 0:37:57

     Sure

245. 0:37:58

     ... if we were, you know, subdividing black acre and, you know, 400 acres, I would still recommend working with an attorney. But that's one of the great things about this, is it allows people to, you know, like my grandfather, to leave something to his grandson without having to go to an attorney. They just need to record it, you know, um, properly. But, uh-

246. 0:38:18

     Yeah. That's fair

247. 0:38:18

     ... other than that, you don't have to have an attorney.

248. 0:38:20

     And, and I'm also assuming this is, uh, um, this is a not commercial at all. There's nothing commercial about this. This is all-

249. 0:38:29

     Residential?

250. 0:38:29

     ... residential, or does this also, if someone has commercial real estate-

251. 0:38:33

     No, I think you could do commercial.

252. 0:38:35

     Oh, yeah.

253. 0:38:35

     I think anything that you own that's real property.

254. 0:38:37

     Yeah, that's real property.

255. 0:38:38

     Yeah.

256. 0:38:38

     Yeah, there's not limited.

257. 0:38:39

     Okay. So 'cause I didn't know if it had to be in a certain... 'Cause commercial, if it's in a LLC, but the owner dies-

258. 0:38:47

     Well-

259. 0:38:47

     ... does it get transferred to, now you don't have a person, you know, it's been in one company, now it needs to go to another company, I'm assuming. So does that-

260. 0:38:55

     So it really comes down to whether the company, if they did it correctly, 'cause a company can sell a property, right?

261. 0:39:01

     Right.

262. 0:39:01

     And they can convey a deed to the buyer. Um, so or they can convey their interest in this one property to another one of their LLCs. So the same way that they can do that with a deed, a warranty deed now, technically with a transfer on death deed, as long as they have the right formalities to leave it to an individual person, they can.

263. 0:39:21

     Mm-hmm.

264. 0:39:21

     So if they're a sole member LLC-

265. 0:39:23

     That person just needs to be aware that this is a commercial property, that they need to do what they need to do to eventually change it to a com- under a company name. But-

266. 0:39:30

     Well, it, it, it-

267. 0:39:31

     If, if they accept, I'm sorry to interrupt.

268. 0:39:33

     Yeah, if they accept.

269. 0:39:33

     If they accept, they're accepting it as an individual-

270. 0:39:37

     It depends on-

271. 0:39:38

     Oh, dear

272. 0:39:38

     ... it depends on whether the grantor left it to a commer- Like, so let's say that I have a company, I own property in my company and I wanna give it to your company, and I'm leaving it to your company, um, that's what, what this transfer on death deed, then just a representative, whoever has the signing authority for your company, would go and accept it, right?

273. 0:39:57

     Yes.

274. 0:39:58

     But if it's an individual, individuals can own commercial properties-

275. 0:40:01

     Sure

276. 0:40:02

     ... whether we would advise that-

277. 0:40:03

     Advise that, right

278. 0:40:04

     ... is a different story. But-

279. 0:40:05

     So this is a r- um, commercial or not, right? Or residential.

280. 0:40:10

     Mm-hmm.

281. 0:40:11

     This is individuals or companies.

282. 0:40:14

     Right.

283. 0:40:14

     Um-

284. 0:40:15

     And, and one of the things that we clarified to help, because this is s- viewed as an estate planning tool, um, we also added where, um, peop- grantors can leave to multiple, or I should say, alternate beneficiaries. Because it's like, what happens if your beneficiary dies or predeceases you? That wasn't really accounted for in this. But if we're using this as an estate planning tool, what you're going, what you want-

285. 0:40:41

     Understood

286. 0:40:41

     ... then we, we've added that language so they can do that-

287. 0:40:44

     Yeah

288. 0:40:44

     ... and, you know, which fits within Georgia law. So-

289. 0:40:47

     Thank you

290. 0:40:48

     ... we're giving a lot more flexibility.

291. 0:40:50

     Oh, good deal. Chairman Anderson.

292. 0:40:53

     Um, I apologize for coming in late and didn't get to hear your whole presentation. We're kinda stretched thin right now. But, um, I understand this, that this is just solely property.

293. 0:41:07

     Yes. This only applies to real property.

294. 0:41:10

     All right. Another scenario.

295. 0:41:14

     All right.

296. 0:41:15

     What if you deed it to your two children, the home, and then the home was, got a safe in there and it's got a half a million dollars in it in cash?

297. 0:41:30

     Well-

298. 0:41:31

     Nice safe

299. 0:41:31

     ... right.

300. 0:41:32

     Where, what's the address?

301. 0:41:33

     Yeah, right.

302. 0:41:35

     Does this one have, does this one have the black interior?

303. 0:41:36

     Well, I mean, I'm, I'm just saying, uh-

304. 0:41:37

     Lee-

305. 0:41:38

     T-

306. 0:41:38

     ... when are you planning on going home?

307. 0:41:42

     So I would say the short answer is, typically when you, whenever you provide, leave real property to someone, if you haven't... If I sold at my house tomorrow and I didn't remove contents from that house-

308. 0:41:55

     That's what I'm saying. What if everything was still in there?

309. 0:41:56

     Then that's their... Like, whatever you still have in there, that is who-

310. 0:42:00

     So they gotta fight over the-

311. 0:42:01

     Mm-hmm

312. 0:42:02

     ... half a million.

313. 0:42:02

     Yeah.

314. 0:42:03

     Oh.

315. 0:42:03

     Then technically it would say that they own it 50/50, so they'd have to split it, but-

316. 0:42:07

     Right

317. 0:42:07

     ... um, because they own, however they took title to the house, they would take title to the, um, personal property within the house.

318. 0:42:16

     Okay.

319. 0:42:16

     Now, the better... I thought you were... I'm waiting for the, the scenario when we talk about the mistress. That's what I've been waiting on.

320. 0:42:24

     Oh.

321. 0:42:24

     Oh, man. Wait a minute. It's getting juicy now.

322. 0:42:28

     Put that one out there.

323. 0:42:29

     Now it's getting interesting.

324. 0:42:31

     I might create-

325. 0:42:32

     All right

326. 0:42:32

     ... might create a show here.

327. 0:42:35

     Yeah. All right. Uh, we, uh, Chairman Burns.

328. 0:42:37

     Uh, just, just an observation. I, I had a situation where I had a friend who kept their cash not in a safe, but in the freezer.

329. 0:42:45

     Oh.

330. 0:42:45

     And so it was like cold, hard cash.

331. 0:42:47

     Love it.

332. 0:42:49

     And that's a true story.

333. 0:42:51

     I think we had a j- senator from Georgia a long time ago that-

334. 0:42:53

     Yeah

335. 0:42:53

     ... had that situation there.

336. 0:42:55

     Yeah.

337. 0:42:55

     Uh, Senator Hatchett.

338. 0:42:58

     I was just gonna say, Senator Anderson, I can draft up a promissory note for you where you're gonna- ... give me $500,000- ... so I can show that to your heirs one day.

339. 0:43:08

     There we go.

340. 0:43:08

     All right. Good deal.

341. 0:43:09

     Mr. Chairman.

342. 0:43:11

     Um, if there are any further questions? Well, thank you at this late hour for coming and explaining the bill. And obviously you're an expert in this-

343. 0:43:19

     Thank you

344. 0:43:19

     ... and it's been illuminating for me, and, um, certainly interesting to learn about this, 'cause, uh, I know in my family we, you know, have some of this JTW- O- JTW whatever it is, you know.

345. 0:43:33

     JTWROS.

346. 0:43:33

     He says, right.

347. 0:43:34

     Yep.

348. 0:43:34

     Yes, ma'am. Um, so thank you. I know it's late, but your, you being here, your being here and your testimony has certainly been very helpful to us. Um, and so with that, um, what's the will of the committee?

349. 0:43:51

     All right.

350. 0:43:51

     Well, we, we got some testimony from other individ- You, you waive?

351. 0:43:55

     We, we do. We're-

352. 0:43:57

     You-

353. 0:43:57

     Uh, uh.

354. 0:43:58

     Okay.

355. 0:43:58

     Do you

356. 0:43:59

     Yes.

357. 0:43:59

     It's, I would, I, I probably, I, I probably wouldn't, I probably wouldn't, um, mess up a train when it's rolling down the tracks- ... the way you want it to go.

358. 0:44:07

     Just a, just a procedural question if I might, Mr. Chairman.

359. 0:44:09

     Yeah. Sure, uh, Chairman Burns.

360. 0:44:11

     All right. So since we're now in a situation where I've, uh, House Bill 113 being replaced with essentially the former House Bill 899-

361. 0:44:20

     Yes

362. 0:44:20

     ... so it's a, it's a strip and replace, and, and, and I, I wanna add my thanks for, uh, for your support and your, your explanation. Procedurally, this would then go to the Senate floor as House Bill 113.

363. 0:44:35

     Correct.

364. 0:44:36

     And I would hope that our good friend, Senator Hatchett, might be the, the person that help, would help us with that. But then when it goes back, it'd have to go back over for an agree. Is that not true?

365. 0:44:46

     That is correct.

366. 0:44:47

     Okay.

367. 0:44:47

     Yes, thank you.

368. 0:44:47

     So it's the proper time, Mr. Chairman.

369. 0:44:49

     Oh, I'm think now is... Well, actually, I'm sorry, uh, Chairman, uh, uh, Se- Chairman Watson, he actually hit you first-

370. 0:44:57

     Oh, that's okay

371. 0:44:57

     ... but I'm gonna let you-

372. 0:44:57

     No, let him go.

373. 0:44:58

     Okay, go ahead.

374. 0:44:59

     Uh, I'd like to make a motion do pass on House Bill 413 LC492832S.

375. 0:45:06

     All right. Good deal. And we have a p- we have a second from Senator, Senator Howard. Okay. Is there any further discussion? All right. All in favor, please signify by saying I.

376. 0:45:17

     I.

377. 0:45:18

     I.

378. 0:45:18

     All right. Carries unanimously. So thank you again.

379. 0:45:21

     Thank you for your time.

380. 0:45:21

     That was, uh... You might wanna leave your business card. There, I think that should be- They, uh... Well, with that, this meeting is adjourned.

381. 0:45:30

     All right.

382. 0:45:30

     I was hoping you would. Okay. Is that o- is that okay, Representative Jenkins?

383. 0:45:34

     Yes.

384. 0:45:35

     Well, I think that I'm gonna collect some more, uh-

385. 0:45:56

     No, no, no.