Georgia Estate Planning Checklist: Every Document You Need in 2026

Most Georgia residents need four core documents and a handful of account-level changes to have a complete estate plan. The problem is not complexity — it is knowing which Georgia-specific rules apply to each document and executing them in the right order. This checklist covers every step, including the 2026 Transfer on Death Deed amendments that changed how homeowners pass real property outside probate.

Document 1: Last Will and Testament

Your will names who receives your assets, who serves as executor, and who becomes guardian of your minor children. Without one, Georgia's intestacy rules control everything — and those rules do not automatically give your entire estate to your spouse if you have children.

Georgia execution requirements:

• [ ] Testator is at least 14 years old and of sound mind
• [ ] Will is in writing (typed or handwritten) and signed by the testator
• [ ] Two witnesses, both at least 14, sign in the testator's direct line of sight
• [ ] Neither witness is a beneficiary under the will (their inheritance is voided if they are the only witnesses)
• [ ] Self-proving affidavit signed by testator, both witnesses, and a notary public

Georgia-specific clauses to include:

• [ ] Year's Support election clause — state whether bequests are "in lieu of Year's Support" under O.C.G.A. § 53-3-3 (prevents a surviving spouse from claiming both the bequest and a Year's Support award)
• [ ] Guardian nomination for minor children
• [ ] Executor nomination with bond waiver language

Document 2: Transfer on Death Deed

If you own your home or other real property in Georgia, a TODD lets the property pass directly to your beneficiary at death without probate. The owner keeps full control during their lifetime.

Filing requirements (post-April 2026 HB 413 amendments):

• [ ] Draft deed with full legal description matching the current recorded deed
• [ ] Sign before a notary public
• [ ] Complete PT-61 form online at erealestatetax.georgia.gov
• [ ] Record the TODD with the Superior Court Clerk in the property's county
• [ ] Notify beneficiary about the 9-month post-death acceptance deadline

Key rules:

• [ ] Only the property owner can sign — a POA agent cannot execute or revoke a TODD
• [ ] Contingent beneficiaries are now permitted under the 2026 amendments
• [ ] An unrecorded TODD has no legal effect

Document 3: Durable Financial Power of Attorney

This document lets a trusted agent manage your finances if you become incapacitated. Under Georgia's Uniform Power of Attorney Act (O.C.G.A. § 10-6B), a financial POA is durable by default — meaning it survives your incapacity unless you state otherwise.

Execution requirements:

• [ ] Signed by the principal
• [ ] Attested by one competent adult witness who is not the named agent
• [ ] Notarized by a notary public who is a different person from the witness
• [ ] All three individuals (principal, witness, notary) physically present in the same room
• [ ] Remote online notarization is not valid for Georgia POAs

Decisions to make:

• [ ] Immediate vs. springing — does the POA take effect now or only upon incapacity?
• [ ] "Hot powers" — does the agent have authority to make gifts, change beneficiaries, or modify trusts? These must be explicitly granted.
• [ ] Successor agent — who steps in if the primary agent cannot serve?

Document 4: Advance Directive for Health Care

Georgia's advance directive (O.C.G.A. § 31-32-1) combines two documents into one: a health care proxy (naming someone to make medical decisions for you) and a living will (stating your treatment preferences for end-of-life care).

Execution requirements:

• [ ] Signed by the principal
• [ ] Signed by two adult witnesses
• [ ] Neither witness is the named health care agent
• [ ] Witnesses are physically present at signing

Sections to complete:

• [ ] Part 1: Name your health care agent and alternate agent
• [ ] Part 2: State preferences on ventilators, CPR, tube feeding, and other life-sustaining treatments
• [ ] Provide copies to your health care agent, primary care physician, and hospital

Account-Level Changes

These non-document steps complete the plan by ensuring assets transfer outside probate:

Bank accounts:

• [ ] Add payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary designations to checking and savings accounts
• [ ] For accounts under $15,000, your heirs can use the statutory affidavit under O.C.G.A. § 7-1-239 if you die intestate — but POD designations are simpler

Retirement accounts:

• [ ] Verify beneficiary designations on 401(k), IRA, and pension accounts
• [ ] Remove any ex-spouse beneficiaries (Georgia's automatic revocation in wills does not apply to beneficiary designations on retirement accounts)

Life insurance:

• [ ] Verify beneficiary designations match your current wishes
• [ ] Name contingent beneficiaries

Vehicles:

• [ ] Consider joint title with right of survivorship for family vehicles
• [ ] If jointly titled, the surviving owner inherits automatically

Annual Review Triggers

An estate plan is not a one-time task. Review and update your documents when any of these happen:

• [ ] Marriage, divorce, or remarriage
• [ ] Birth or adoption of a child
• [ ] Death of a named beneficiary, executor, or agent
• [ ] Purchase or sale of real property (update or revoke the TODD)
• [ ] Significant change in asset value
• [ ] New medical diagnosis
• [ ] Move to or from Georgia (other states have different execution rules)
• [ ] Georgia legislative changes (the TODD statute was last amended in April 2026)

Common Mistakes This Checklist Prevents

Dying without a will in Georgia means your surviving spouse splits the estate with your children — receiving as little as one-third. Stepchildren and unmarried partners receive nothing.

Forgetting the Year's Support clause in your will lets a surviving spouse claim their bequest and petition for additional estate assets.

Having a beneficiary witness your will voids their inheritance unless two additional disinterested witnesses also signed.

Not recording the TODD during your lifetime means the property goes through probate regardless of what the deed says.

Letting a POA agent sign as both witness and notary on the financial power of attorney voids the document entirely.

The Georgia Basic Estate Planning Kit provides the full instructions for each document on this checklist, with Georgia-specific execution guides, signing ceremony steps, and the statutory forms and references you need to complete everything correctly.

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