Estate administration, in basic terms, is the process of maintenance and distribution of a person's assets after they die.

If the decedent wrote a will before his or her death in Cobb County, Georgia, the process will be carried out according to the directives contained in the will, assuming they are valid and enforceable.

Most commonly, a will names a person to serve as executor, whose job it is to ensure that the estate is properly administered.

The executor is usually the person who stands to inherit the most money or property from the will, since this personn will have the greatest incentive to see the probate and administration process to completion.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If a will in Cobb County, Georgia is silent as to who should be the executor, it is up to the court to decide who should serve in that capacity.

Usually, the person chosen to be executor is the one who would benefit most under the will, or under Georgia's intestacy laws. "Intestacy" refers to a situation in which a person dies without a will, or "dies intestate." Every state has laws to address this situation, and there isn't a lot of variation from state to state. Usually, the decedent's property will go to his or her closest relative, and if absolutely no living relatives can be found, it will go to the state.

If the will doesn't name anyone as executor, or the person who was named as executor is no longer living or cannot be found, anyone who has a direct interest in the will in Cobb County, Georgia can apply to the court to be the executor.

Once an executor is finally named, he or she becomes responsible for serving as the living embodiment of the estate, using all legal means to protect the estate's interests (such as mounting plausible legal defenses against creditors).

Can a Cobb County, Georgia Estate Administration Attorney Help?

If you are the executor of an estate, and don't know how to handle some of the legal and financial complexities that may arise, an experienced Cobb County, Georgia lawyer can make this process a great deal easier.