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

If the decedent wrote a will before his or her death in Hampton, Georgia, the process will be carried out according to the directives included in the will, assuming they are legitimate and enforceable.

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

The executor is often the person who will get the most money or property out of the will if it is given effect, because this is the person who will have the greatest incentive to see that the probate process goes as rapidly as possible.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

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

Usually, this will be the person who has the most to gain from the will, or who would gain the most under Georgia's intestacy scheme (the system that distributes the decedent's property to his or her closest living relatives, if he or she dies without a will).

In cases where the will doesn't name an executor, or the person named is unable to take on that role for whatever reason, any person who has some direct share in the decedent's estate (either because they're named in the will or stand to inherit by intestacy) can petition a Hampton, Georgia court to be assigned 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 safeguard the estate's interests as they would their own.

Can a Hampton, Georgia Estate Administration Attorney Help?

If you are the administrator of an estate, and are not a legal and/or financial professional, you might encounter legal or tax issues with which you are unfamiliar. A Hampton, Georgia attorney would be very helpful in such a situation.