Georgia Will and Trust Laws: Witnesses, Self-Proving, Trusts (2026)

Under Georgia law, every individual 14 years of age or older may make a will unless under a legal disability from want of capacity or want of perfect liberty of action (O.C.G.A. 53-4-10), and the will must be in writing, signed by the testator, and attested and subscribed in the testator's presence by two or more competent witnesses (O.C.G.A. 53-4-20). A notary is not needed for validity; a notary is used to make the will self-proved under 53-4-24. Living trusts are governed by the Revised Georgia Trust Code of 2010 (O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapter 12).

Georgia stands out among the wills and trusts laws by state in two ways. Its age floors are low: a testator and a witness may each be 14. And its trust code sets a revocation rule that readers should not assume: under 53-12-40, a settlor has no power to revoke or modify a trust in the absence of an express reservation of that power, and any revocation or modification must be in a writing the settlor signs.

Information last verified on 2026-10-19. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Georgia statutes on making, signing, proving, changing and revoking wills (O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapters 3, 4 and 5) and on revocable living trusts (the Revised Georgia Trust Code of 2010, Title 53, Chapter 12). It does not cover what happens when someone dies without a will or how estate administration works (see Georgia probate), small-estate procedures (see the Georgia small estate affidavit page), powers of attorney (see Georgia power of attorney laws), or taxes. A living will is a health-care directive, not a will; see the Georgia advance directive tool.

What makes a will valid in Georgia?

Who can make a will

Section 53-4-10(a) provides: "Every individual 14 years of age or older may make a will, unless laboring under some legal disability arising either from a want of capacity or a want of perfect liberty of action." Under 53-4-10(b), a person "who has been convicted of a crime shall not be deprived of the power to make a will."

Section 53-4-11 sets the capacity test: "Testamentary capacity exists when the testator has a decided and rational desire as to the disposition of property." The same section adds that "An incapacity to contract may coexist with the capacity to make a will," and that "Neither advancing age nor weakness of intellect nor eccentricity of habit or thought is inconsistent with the capacity to make a will."

The signing and witnessing rule

Section 53-4-20 sets the form:

"(a) A will shall be in writing and shall be signed by the testator or by some other individual in the testator's presence and at the testator's express direction. A testator may sign by mark or by any name that is intended to authenticate the instrument as the testator's will. (b) A will shall be attested and subscribed in the presence of the testator by two or more competent witnesses. A witness to a will may attest by mark. Another individual may not subscribe the name of a witness, even in that witness's presence and at that witness's direction." (O.C.G.A. 53-4-20)

Under 53-4-20(c), "A codicil shall be executed by the testator and attested and subscribed by witnesses with the same formality as a will."

The Supreme Court of Georgia summarized what the rule does and does not demand in Miles v. Bryant, 277 Ga. 362 (2003): "The proper execution of a will requires nothing more than a writing signed by the maker and the attestation of two competent witnesses in the maker's presence. The maker may either sign the will in each witness's presence or acknowledge her signature to the witnesses. The witnesses are not required to sign in the presence of each other." The court added that "Georgia law does not require publication; that is, the maker need not declare to the attesting witnesses that it is her will or reveal its contents to them."

Who can witness

Under 53-4-22(a), "Any individual who is competent to be a witness and age 14 or over may witness a will." If a witness is competent when attesting, later incompetence "shall not prevent the probate of the will" (53-4-22(b)).

A beneficiary who witnesses the will keeps competence but can lose the gift. Section 53-4-23(a) provides that "the testamentary gift to the witness shall be void unless there are at least two other subscribing witnesses to the will who are not beneficiaries under the will." A witness's spouse is treated differently: under 53-4-23(b), a person may witness a will that gives a gift to that person's spouse, "the fact going only to the credibility of the witness."

Does a Georgia will need to be notarized? The self-proving affidavit

A notary is not part of the 53-4-20 signing rule. Notarization comes in through section 53-4-24, which lets the testator and witnesses make the will self-proved:

"At the time of its execution or at any subsequent date during the lifetime of the testator and the witnesses, a will or codicil may be made self-proved and the testimony of the witnesses in the probate regarding such will may be made unnecessary by the affidavits of the testator and the attesting witnesses made before a notary public." (O.C.G.A. 53-4-24(a))

Key points from the section:

• The testator and the attesting witnesses each give an affidavit before a notary public.
• It can be done at signing or later, but only while the testator and the witnesses are all alive.
• The affidavit is evidenced by a certificate, affixed with the notary's official seal and attached or annexed to the will, in substantially the form set out in 53-4-24(b). This page does not reproduce that form.
• A self-proved will "may be contested, revoked, or amended in exactly the same fashion as a will or codicil that is not self-proved."

Self-proving changes what happens at probate. Under 53-5-17(a), "A will may be proved in common form upon the testimony of a single subscribing witness and without service or notice to anyone. If the will is self-proved, compliance with signature requirements for execution is presumed and other requirements for execution are presumed without the testimony of any subscribing witness." Probate procedure is covered on the Georgia probate page.

Are handwritten (holographic) wills valid in Georgia?

Not without witnesses. Section 53-4-20 is Georgia's execution rule, and it requires every will to be "attested and subscribed in the presence of the testator by two or more competent witnesses." Chapter 4 of Title 53 contains no exception for a will written in the testator's own hand and signed without witnesses. A handwritten will that is signed and properly witnessed meets the same rule as a typed one.

Different rules apply when the testator dies domiciled in another state or country and owns property in Georgia. A will already probated or established where the testator was domiciled may be admitted to ancillary probate in Georgia, and its validity and terms are then given effect under the law of the domicile (O.C.G.A. 53-5-33, 53-5-34). Original probate of such a will in Georgia requires proof that it is valid under Georgia law (53-5-31).

Are oral (nuncupative) wills valid in Georgia?

No. Section 53-4-20(a) requires that "A will shall be in writing," so a spoken will does not meet Georgia's execution requirements.

Electronic wills and remote witnessing

Georgia's will execution sections, 53-4-20 through 53-4-24, require a will in writing, signed by the testator, and attested and subscribed by the witnesses "in the presence of the testator." Chapter 4 of Title 53 contains no electronic-will provision.

Remote witnessing was allowed only temporarily, during the COVID-19 emergency. Governor's Executive Order 04.09.20.01, signed April 9, 2020, let the in-person witnessing of a will under 53-4-20 be satisfied by real-time audio-video technology, provided the witnesses signed on the same calendar day as the testator. By its own terms the order was to "expire at the conclusion of the Public Health State of Emergency declared in Executive Order 03.14.20.01," carrying forward with any renewal of that emergency. When that emergency ended, Executive Order 06.30.21.02, signed June 30, 2021, restated a similar audio-video allowance for documents covered by 53-4-20 under a new State of Emergency for Continued COVID-19 Economic Recovery, effective until that emergency was terminated or ceased to be renewed; its last renewal, Executive Order 03.21.22.01, set it to terminate on April 15, 2022 unless renewed. Section 53-4-20 itself was not amended and still requires attestation "in the presence of the testator."

Changing or revoking a Georgia will

Methods of revocation

Georgia's revocation sections start with intent: "In all cases of revocation, the intent to revoke is necessary" (53-4-41). An express revocation can happen two ways:

• By a later writing. Under 53-4-43, "An express revocation may be effected by a subsequent will or other written instrument that is executed, subscribed, and attested with the same formality as required for a will."
• By a physical act. Under 53-4-44, "An express revocation may be effected by any destruction or obliteration of the will done by the testator with an intent to revoke or by another at the testator's direction." The same section adds: "The intent to revoke shall be presumed from the obliteration or cancellation of a material portion of the will, but such presumption may be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence."
• By a later inconsistent will. A later will that does not expressly revoke an earlier one revokes it by implication only when the later will becomes effective, and only so far as the two are inconsistent (53-4-42, 53-4-47).

A missing original

Under 53-4-46(a), "A presumption of intent to revoke arises if the original of a testator's will cannot be found to probate." A copy may be offered instead under 53-4-46(b), but only if it "is proved by a preponderance of the evidence to be a true copy of the original will" and the presumption of revocation "is rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence."

Revoking the later will

Revoking a later will does not automatically bring back an earlier will it expressly revoked in its entirety. The earlier will stays revoked unless the terms of the revoking instrument, or for a revocation by physical act the circumstances or the testator's contemporaneous or later declarations, show the testator intended it to take effect (53-4-45).

Republishing a revoked will

Under 53-4-50, "A revoked will may be republished by a writing executed by the testator and subscribed and attested by witnesses with the same formality required for a will."

Divorce or annulment

Section 53-4-49 provides:

"All provisions of a will made prior to a testator's final divorce or the annulment of the testator's marriage in which no provision is made in contemplation of such event shall take effect as if the former spouse had predeceased the testator, and the provisions of Code Section 53-4-64 shall not apply with respect to the descendants of the former spouse who are not also descendants of the testator." (O.C.G.A. 53-4-49)

The rule applies when the will was made before a final divorce or annulment and makes no provision in contemplation of it. Remarriage can undo it: "If the testator remarries the former spouse and the testator has not revoked or amended the will that was made prior to the divorce or annulment, the remarriage shall not result in the revocation of the will and the provisions of the will that were revoked solely due to the application of this Code section shall be revived."

Section 53-4-49 addresses wills. It does not mention trusts or beneficiary designations on life insurance or retirement accounts, which are separate documents.

Marriage, birth or adoption after the will

Under 53-4-48(a), the testator's marriage, the birth of a child (including "a posthumous child born within ten months of the testator's death"), or the adoption of a child after making a will "in which no provision is made in contemplation of such event" results "in a revocation of the will only to the extent provided in the remainder of this Code section." Under 53-4-48(c), the later spouse or child "shall receive the share of the estate he or she would have received if the testator had died intestate," paid from the net residuum after debts and expenses of administration, including taxes. A bequest to that spouse or child in the will counts toward the intestate share.

A gift to a class of the testator's children "shall be presumed to be made in contemplation of the birth or adoption of additional members of that class, absent an indication of a contrary intent" (53-4-48(b)).

A child believed to be dead

Section 53-4-58 covers a living child the testator left out "solely because the testator believes the child to be dead." If the testator had no other living child when the will was signed, the omitted child receives the intestate share, but only to the extent the provision for the child's surviving parent is not reduced. If the will gives to one or more other children, the omitted child shares equally with them.

Limits on what a Georgia will can do

No elective share. Section 53-4-1 gives a testator broad freedom: a testator "may make any disposition of property that is not inconsistent with the laws or contrary to the public policy of the state and may give all the property to strangers, to the exclusion of the testator's spouse and descendants." Chapter 4 contains no elective-share section. Separately, if the testator marries after making the will and the will makes no provision in contemplation of the marriage, the new spouse receives the share he or she would have received had the testator died intestate (53-4-48).

Year's support. The protection Georgia does give a surviving family is year's support. Under 53-3-1(c), "The surviving spouse and minor children of a testate or intestate decedent are entitled to year's support in the form of property for their support and maintenance for the period of 12 months from the date of the decedent's death." Under 53-3-5(c), "A petition for year's support shall be filed within 24 months of the date of death of the decedent." A testator "may make provision for the spouse in lieu of year's support, in which case the surviving spouse must make an election" (53-3-3). How year's support is set and paid is part of estate administration, covered on the Georgia probate page.

Gifts to a beneficiary who dies first. Under 53-4-64(a), if a beneficiary dies before the testator (or is dead when the will is signed) but has descendants living at the testator's death, an absolute gift without remainder or limitation "shall not lapse but shall vest in the descendants of the beneficiary in the same proportions as if inherited directly from the deceased beneficiary under the intestacy laws of this state." The rule applies to class gifts "unless there appears a clear intent to the contrary" (53-4-64(b)). Where the beneficiary is treated as having died first because of divorce or annulment, or because the beneficiary was responsible for the testator's death, only descendants who are also the testator's descendants take (53-4-64(c)).

No-contest clauses. Under 53-4-68(b), "A condition in terrorem shall be void unless there is a direction in the will as to the disposition of the property if the condition in terrorem is violated, in which event the direction in the will shall be carried out," except as subsection (c) provides. Subsection (c) bars enforcing such a clause against an interested person for:

1. "Bringing an action for interpretation or enforcement of a will";
2. "Bringing an action for an accounting, for removal, or for other relief against a personal representative"; or
3. "Entering into a settlement agreement."

Section 53-12-22 applies the same structure to a no-contest clause in a trust instrument, with the subsection (c) protections stated for actions concerning a trust instrument and a trustee.

Personal-property lists, incorporated documents and contracts

A signed and dated list of tangible items. Section 53-4-5 lets a written statement or list "dispose of items of tangible personal property, other than money, not otherwise specifically disposed of by the testator's will." The writing must be "signed and dated by the testator," must describe "the items and the beneficiaries with reasonable certainty," and must be "referred to in the testator's will." It may be prepared before or after the will, and the testator may change it later "provided that it is signed and dated on the date of such alteration." If more than one list exists, the more recent one controls where they conflict.

Incorporation by reference. Under 53-4-4(a), "Any writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated into the will by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification."

Contracts about wills. Under 53-4-30, a contract made on or after January 1, 1998 that obligates someone to make a will or testamentary disposition, not to revoke one, or to die intestate "shall be express and shall be in a writing that is signed by the obligor."

Filing the will after death. Under 53-5-5, "A person having possession of a will shall file it with reasonable promptness with the probate court of the county having jurisdiction," and the court may hold someone withholding a will in contempt.

Revocable living trusts in Georgia

The trust code

Section 53-12-1(a) provides that Chapter 12 "shall be known and may be cited as 'The Revised Georgia Trust Code of 2010.'" Under 53-12-1(b), "Except to the extent it would impair vested rights and except as otherwise provided by law, the provisions contained in this chapter shall apply to any trust regardless of the date such trust was created."

Creating a trust: a signed writing

Section 53-12-20(a) requires that "an express trust shall be created or declared in writing and signed by the settlor or an agent for the settlor acting under a power of attorney containing express authorization." Under 53-12-20(b), the trust must have, ascertainable with reasonable certainty, an intention by the settlor to create the trust, trust property, a beneficiary (except for charitable trusts and trusts for the care of an animal), a trustee, and trustee duties specified in writing or provided by law.

The signed writing is the formality. Section 53-12-20 does not require witnesses or a notary for a trust instrument. Under 53-12-23, "A person has capacity to create an inter vivos trust to the extent that such person has legal capacity to transfer title to property inter vivos."

Funding the trust

Under 53-12-25(a), "Transfer of property in trust shall require a transfer of legal title to the trustee." A transfer naming the trust as grantee is treated as a transfer to the trustee. For real property, 53-12-25(b) adds a step when the settlor is also a trustee: "For any interest in real property to become trust property in a trust of which any transferor is a trustee, the instrument of conveyance shall additionally be recorded in the appropriate real property records."

Revocable only if the power is reserved

Section 53-12-40 sets the rule on revocation:

"(a) A settlor shall have no power to modify or revoke a trust in the absence of an express reservation of such power. (b) A power to revoke shall be deemed to include a power to modify, and an unrestricted power to modify shall be deemed to include a power to revoke. (c) Any revocation or modification of an express trust shall be in writing and signed by the settlor." (O.C.G.A. 53-12-40)

A Georgia trust is revocable, then, only when the settlor has expressly reserved the power. And whatever the trust says, a revocation or modification of an express trust has to be in a writing the settlor signs.

Related sections fill in the details:

• Trustee without notice. "A trustee shall not be liable for failing to act in accordance with the terms and conditions of an amendment or revocation of a trust of which the trustee had no notice" (53-12-42).
• Agents. An agent under a power of attorney may exercise the settlor's revocation, amendment or distribution powers "only to the extent expressly authorized by the trust instrument and the power" (53-12-43(a)). Powers of attorney are covered on the Georgia power of attorney laws page.
• Conservators. A conservator may exercise those powers "only as provided in Code Section 29-5-23" (53-12-43(b)).

Creditors

Under 53-12-82, regardless of whether the trust contains a spendthrift provision, "During the lifetime of the settlor, the property of a revocable trust shall be subject to claims of the settlor's creditors."

Certification of trust

Under 53-12-280, "The trustee may present a certification of trust to any person other than a beneficiary in lieu of providing a copy of the trust instrument to establish the existence of the trust provisions." A certification "Shall be signed by each trustee," must state that the trust "has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any manner that would cause the representations contained in the certification to be incorrect," and "Need not contain the dispositive provisions of the trust." A person who relies on it without knowing it is incorrect "shall not be liable to any person for so acting," and a person who demands the full trust instrument in addition to a certification "shall be liable for damages, including court costs and attorney's fees, if the court determines that such demand was not made in good faith."

After the settlor dies: notice and the contest deadline

Under 53-12-242(a), "Within 60 days after the date of creation of an irrevocable trust or of the date on which a revocable trust becomes irrevocable, the trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of such trust of the existence of such trust and the name and mailing address of such trustee."

Section 53-12-45 sets the contest deadline and protects a trustee who distributes:

"(a) Any judicial proceeding to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable immediately before the settlor's death shall be commenced within two years of the settlor's death." (O.C.G.A. 53-12-45(a))

After the death, the trustee may distribute under the trust's terms and is not liable for doing so unless the trustee "knows of a pending judicial proceeding contesting the validity of the trust," or a potential contestant "has notified the trustee in writing of a possible judicial proceeding to contest the trust and a judicial proceeding is commenced within 60 days after the contestant sent such notification" (53-12-45(b)). A beneficiary of a trust later held invalid "shall be liable to return any distribution received" (53-12-45(c)).

Pour-over wills

A pour-over will leaves property to the trustee of a trust. Section 53-12-101(a) allows a devise or bequest "to the trustee of a trust established or to be established by the testator or by the testator and some other person or by some other person," if "the trust is identified in the testator's will and its provisions are set forth in a written trust instrument, other than a will, executed before or concurrently with the execution of the testator's will or in the valid last will of a person who has predeceased the testator." The gift is valid even if the trust is unfunded, and it "shall not be invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable or both or because the trust was amended after the execution of the will or after the death of the testator."

Unless the will provides otherwise, the property joins the trust rather than forming a separate testamentary trust and is administered under the trust instrument, including amendments made before or after the testator's death (53-12-101(b)). The same section adds a limit: "Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, a revocation or termination of the trust before the death of the testator shall cause the devise or bequest to lapse" (53-12-101(c)).

Georgia wills and trusts at a glance

Recent changes

House Bill 865 (Ga. L. 2020, p. 377) changed several of these sections. It enacted 53-4-4 (incorporation by reference) and 53-4-5 (the tangible personal property list), and, effective January 1, 2021, it added the subsection (c) limits on no-contest clauses in wills (53-4-68) and trusts (53-12-22) and amended the common-form probate rule in 53-5-17.

Making a will in practice

The site's free Georgia will-maker tool can help draft a basic will. Whatever produces the document, signing must follow section 53-4-20, with two competent witnesses attesting and subscribing in the testator's presence, and the self-proving procedure in 53-4-24 is part of the picture. Complex estates, blended families, business interests or tax questions are reasons to consult a lawyer licensed in Georgia. The tool is not legal advice.

Members of the armed forces have one federal option as well: under 10 U.S.C. 1044d, a military testamentary instrument is exempt from state formalities and has the same legal effect as a will executed under the law of the state where it is presented for probate (see the wills and trusts hub for the federal layer).

Related pages

• Wills and trusts laws by state
• Georgia probate
• Georgia small estate affidavit
• Georgia power of attorney laws

This article provides general legal information about Georgia law on wills and trusts as of 2026-10-19. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Georgia or the probate court in your county.

Last updated: 2026-10-19.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many witnesses does a will need in Georgia?

Two or more competent witnesses who attest and subscribe the will in the testator's presence (O.C.G.A. 53-4-20(b)). A witness must be at least 14 (53-4-22). The Supreme Court of Georgia has held that the witnesses do not have to sign in each other's presence (Miles v. Bryant, 277 Ga. 362 (2003)).

Does a will have to be notarized in Georgia?

No. Section 53-4-20 does not require a notary. A notary is used to make a will self-proved under 53-4-24, through affidavits of the testator and the witnesses, which lets the will be probated without the witnesses' testimony.

What is the minimum age to make a will in Georgia?

Fourteen. Under O.C.G.A. 53-4-10, every individual 14 or older may make a will unless under a legal disability from want of capacity or want of perfect liberty of action.

Is a handwritten will valid in Georgia?

Only if it is witnessed. Section 53-4-20 requires every will to be attested and subscribed by two or more competent witnesses in the testator's presence, and Chapter 4 has no exception for an unwitnessed handwritten will. Separate rules apply to the will of a person who died domiciled in another state or country; see the holographic-will section.

Are oral wills valid in Georgia?

No. Section 53-4-20(a) requires a will to be in writing.

Does divorce revoke a will in Georgia?

If the testator's final divorce or annulment comes after the will is made and the will makes no provision in contemplation of it, the will takes effect as if the former spouse had died first (O.C.G.A. 53-4-49). Remarrying the former spouse revives those provisions if the will was not revoked or amended; see the divorce section for details.

Can I leave my spouse out of my will in Georgia?

Section 53-4-1 allows a testator to give all property to strangers, excluding the spouse and descendants, and Chapter 4 has no elective-share section. The surviving spouse and minor children may petition for year's support within 24 months of the death (53-3-1, 53-3-5). A spouse the testator married after making the will takes an intestate share if the will makes no provision in contemplation of the marriage (53-4-48).

Is a living trust revocable in Georgia?

Only if the settlor expressly reserved the power. Under O.C.G.A. 53-12-40, a settlor has no power to modify or revoke a trust without an express reservation, and any revocation or modification of an express trust must be in a writing signed by the settlor.

Does a living trust need to be in writing in Georgia?

Yes. An express trust must be created or declared in writing and signed by the settlor or an agent acting under a power of attorney with express authorization (O.C.G.A. 53-12-20). The section does not require witnesses or a notary.

How long do you have to contest a revocable trust in Georgia?

A judicial proceeding contesting a trust that was revocable immediately before the settlor's death must be commenced within two years of the death (O.C.G.A. 53-12-45).