Williamson, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You may find an attorney who is willing to review and help you sign documents that the attorney didn't prepare, but honestly you will likely not be well-served by that course of action. In order to review a Will and revocable trust, for example, any attorney at my firm would need to read the document in depth, in addition to meeting with you to understand your situation, your wishes, and what you are trying to accomplish in the documents, in order to ensure that the documents are adequate or to know what changes should be recommended. That kind of work is generally hourly rate work, and a thorough review and consultation takes a lot of time. You would likely be better off just having new documents prepared (an amended and restated revocable trust), especially if you find an attorney who does estate planning work on a fixed fee basis. In my firm, we always review existing documents as part of an estate planning consultation, and if the underlying documents really are pretty good, then sometimes we can help with the few changes needed. But it is almost never the most cost-effective way to do it, because there's so much from-scratch work and we can't give you a flat fee because we don't know how long it will take. If you really are set on doing this yourself and just finding an attorney who will review the documents you prepared and help you sign them, this is not the correct forum. You will need to look up attorneys in whatever area you want to work in, and then call or e-mail each attorney's office directly to see whether or not they will perform this kind of work and how they will charge for it. Again, you may find one. But it likely won't be inexpensive.

Assets held in an account that is subject to a payable on death (POD) beneficiary designation do not become part of the decedent's probate estate. Instead, they are paid directly to the beneficiary. However, with POD or transfer on death (TOD) designation, if the decedent's estate turns out to be insolvent, the creditors could legally come looking to the POD/TOD beneficiary for payment of the decedent's debts. So, there is some risk of a creditor claim, although it's likely to be small, and the probate estate assets should be used before any creditor comes after POD or TOD beneficiaries. (Note: some assets payable under beneficiary designations that are NOT POD or TOD designations, such as beneficiary designations on IRAs or other retirement plans and life insurance, have more protection against creditor claims than POD/TOD accounts do.) Georgia has no estate or inheritance taxes, so assets received from a Georgia decedent normally will not be subject to any such taxes unless the decedent's estate was large enough to generate a federal estate tax. If you have actual questions about a real situation, however, please don't rely on this kind of forum. Get an actual consultation from an attorney. That's the only way that anyone will be able to get enough information about your actual situation to give you legal advice. Best wishes to you.

Based on the information you provided, you mother is not legally responsible for the real estate taxes on the property, your stepfather's brother is. If the real estate taxes are not paid, the property will be sold for taxes by the County. If they are not redeemed withing a certain time limit, title to the property will pass to the tax purchaser after notice and hearing.