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 Cochran, Georgia, the process will be carried out according to the directives contained in the will, assuming they are valid and enforceable.

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

The executor is normally 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 Cochran, Georgia is silent as to who should be the executor, it is up to the court to decide who should serve in that capacity.

Normally, 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. Normally, 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 Cochran, Georgia can apply to the court to be the executor.

When the executor is chosen, they serve as a sort of incarnation of the decedent's estate - the estate's legal interests become the executor's interests, and the executor is expected to protect the estate's interests as they would their own.

Can a Cochran, Georgia Estate Administration Attorney Help?

Some people are surprised when they find out they've been named the executor of a relative's estate. The responsibilities can seem daunting, but with the help of a brilliant Cochran, Georgia attorney, the process almost always goes pretty smoothly.