Buford, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

It all depends on how the title was originally handled for the home.  If the title with your mom is joint tenants with rights of survivorship, then the home is yours.  If the title is tenants in common, then your mom owns 1/2 of the house still. At her death, the house would belong equally to her spouse and children.  Therefore, if your mom was not married and your sister and you are the only children then each of you would have inherited one-half of your mother's half of the house.  Therefore, you might own 3/4 of the house today and your sister would own ¼ of the house.  Of course, it is not that easy because your mother may have had debts that needed to eb paid off, someone paid for the funeral and that person gets her money back first.  You should consult with a lawyer specializing in probate law to sort this out.

If "you" are a couple, then you actually should each have a Will. While there is such a thing as a "joint Will," they are not favored in Georgia and don't work very well at all. So I hope you mean that you each have Wills already. "Estate planning" is the process of analyzing a given person or couple's situation (family, finances, wishes, hopes, special issues, etc) and ensuring that they have legal documents, asset titles, and beneficiary designations all set up so that the person or couple and their loved ones are protected against the potentially devastating results of a death or incapacity. So yes, you should have an estate plan. Just having a Will is generally not enough: you also should each have, at a minimum, a power of attorney and an advance directive for health care. You may also need or at least be able to benefit from having other documents, such as revocable or irrevocable trusts, depending on what kinds of assets you own, how much you are worth, and what you want to leave as your legacy. Even if you already have all of the basic documents in place, if they are more than a few years old, it might be a good idea to have them reviewed. Georgia has had a number of very significant changes to its laws in the past 2 years, and there have also been a number of significant changes in federal law. These changes may mean that the documents you currently have could be improved to better serve you and your family. It may be that you don't end up needing to make changes right now, but if you have a review it at least lets you make sure that you know if you DO need some, or if there are some that you could make that would be beneficial for you and better serve your needs. Many estate planning attorneys offer estate planning consultations free of charge and free of obligation (like my firm), and it's time well-spent on your part. Best wishes to you.