PocketLaw | Georgia Code | (For Effective Date, See note.) Date by

(For Effective Date, See note.) Date by Which Objections Must Be Filed or on Which Hearing Will Be Held

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Except as otherwise prescribed by law or as shortened by the judge upon good cause shown or directed by the judge pursuant to Code Section 53-11-5 with respect to any particular proceeding, the date on or before which any person is required to file any objection shall be not fewer than 30 days after the date such person is personally served with notice. For a person within the continental United States who is served with notice by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, the date on or before which any objection is required to be filed by such person shall not be fewer than 30 days from the date of mailing of such service of notice; provided, however, that if a return receipt from any recipient is received by the court within 30 days from such date of mailing of such service of notice, the date on or before which any objection is required to be filed by such recipient shall be 30 days from the date of receipt of such service of notice shown on such return receipt. For a person outside the continental United States who is served with notice by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, the date on or before which any objection is required to be filed by such person shall not be fewer than 30 days from the date the service of the citation is mailed by the court; provided, however, that if the return receipt from any such recipient is received by the court during such 30 day period the date on or before which any objection is required to be filed by such recipient shall not be earlier than 30 days from the date of such recipient's receipt of such service of notice shown on such return receipt. For a person served with notice by publication, the date on or before which any objection is required to be filed shall be no earlier than the first day of the week following such service by publication of citation once each week for four weeks.
Except as otherwise prescribed by law or directed by the judge with respect to any particular proceeding, the date on which any required hearing shall be held shall be the date by which any objection is required to be filed or such later date as the probate court may specify. When the matter is set for hearing on a date that was not specified in the citation, the probate court shall serve by first-class mail a notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to the petitioner and all parties who have filed responses to the petition at the addresses given by them in their pleadings.

(Code 1981, §53-11-10, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1352, § 32; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-69/HB 865.)

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 16, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the Act shall be applicable with respect to notices delivered on or after July 1, 2000.

Law reviews.

- For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 313 (1997). For survey article on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 60 Mercer L. Rev. 417 (2008).

COMMENT

This section states the general requirement, upon the filing of a petition, a citation shall be issued, addressed to parties who are entitled to notice or service upon the filing of a petition. The citation will require that the objections be made in writing and will give the date by which objections must be filed. In addition, the citation is designed to inform the parties whether a hearing will be held on a date that is named in the citation or on a date to be later specified by the court. For a list of proceedings in which the petition may be granted without a hearing if no objections are filed, see OCGA Sec. 15-9-86.1. The requirements of subsection (b) reflect those of former OCGA Sec. 53-3-14(c).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Discretion to extend time for responses or objections to will.

- Before a will was probated, O.C.G.A. §§ 53-11-5 and53-11-10(a) provided a probate court with discretion to extend the time for the filing of responses or objections to the will in order to preserve the interests of justice; the probate court properly extended the time for the decedent's widow to object or raise a claim under O.C.G.A. § 53-4-48 and to assert the statutory right to an intestate share after the initial acknowledgment and assent to the petition to probate the will which did not name her as a beneficiary. English v. Ricart, 280 Ga. 215, 626 S.E.2d 475 (2006).

Timely objections to amendment of year's support order.

- In a probate matter, the trial court erred by dismissing an executor's objection to the setting aside of certain real property as a year's support in favor of an estate as the executor had filed an objection within 15 days of the default order amending the year's support order, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-55(a), and by paying costs. The provisions of § 9-11-55(a) relating to the opening of default judgments as a matter of right within 15 days of default applied to a year's support proceedings in probate court. In re Estate of Ehlers, 289 Ga. App. 14, 656 S.E.2d 169 (2007).

Caveat timely filed by estate administrator.

- Caveat filed by the court-appointed estate administrator was not untimely because, although the testator's children were represented by guardians ad litem and the petition to probate the will was served on the children no later than February 5, 2008, the estate remained unrepresented until an administrator was appointed on May 29, 2008; within 24 hours after appointment, the administrator filed a caveat to the will; and the administrator's objection to the proceeding in probate court was filed no later than 10 days after the date the person filing the objection was personally served. Hobbs v. Winfield, 302 Ga. 23, 805 S.E.2d 74 (2017).

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