Death Intestate, and Without Ascertainable Heirs, of Spouse of Intestate Decedent

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  2. Georgia Code
  3. Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
  4. Descent and Distribution
  5. General Provisions
  6. Death Intestate, and Without Ascertainable Heirs, of Spouse of Intestate Decedent

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  1. When the spouse of an intestate decedent dies intestate and without ascertainable heirs within six months of the decedent's death, any undistributed property of the decedent to which the spouse had been entitled prior to the spouse's death shall not escheat but shall be distributed to the heirs of the decedent who would have inherited the property under the intestacy laws if the spouse had predeceased the decedent.
  2. The nonexistence of heirs of the spouse may be determined by publication as provided in Code Section 53-2-51. If no heir of the spouse appears, the property, less the expenses of the proceedings to determine the nonexistence of heirs, shall be paid over as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section.

(Code 1981, §53-2-8, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10.)

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, "Code Section" was substituted for "Code section" in the first sentence in subsection (b).

COMMENT

This section is a modification of former OCGA Sec. 44-5-199. The purpose of this section is to provide an alternative intestacy rule to prevent the escheat of certain property of a decedent if the decedent's spouse dies intestate within six months without ascertainable heirs. Under this section, any property of the first decedent to which the spouse is entitled but which has not yet been distributed to the spouse will instead be distributed to the heirs of the first decedent as if the spouse had predeceased the decedent. The law relating to escheat is codified at Code Sec. 53-2-50.

ARTICLE 2 JUDICIAL DETERMINATION OF HEIRS AND INTERESTS


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