Lithonia Estate Planning Lawyer
The goal of a good estate plan is simple to state: your family is able to act quickly when you cannot, your property reaches the people you chose, and nobody has to ask a judge for permission to do either. Bowman Law Firm helps Georgia families reach that result through wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advance directives, and asset protection planning, serving Lithonia, DeKalb County, and communities across metro Atlanta. If you are searching for a Lithonia estate planning lawyer, the questions that matter most are practical ones: what happens to your home, who can access your accounts if you are hospitalized, and what your heirs will have to go through if the paperwork is missing or wrong.
Georgia is forgiving in one respect and unforgiving in another. The state levies no estate tax and no inheritance tax, so for most Lithonia households the real risk is not a tax bill. The risk is a document that fails on a technicality, an account that was never retitled, or an incapacity with no authorized agent in place. Those failures land in probate or guardianship court, where the process is slower, more public, and more expensive than the plan that would have prevented it.
Where Georgia Estate Plans Actually Break Down
Most failed plans do not fail because of anything exotic. They fail at execution. A Georgia will must be in writing and signed by the person making it, or by someone else in that person’s presence and at their express direction. It must be attested and subscribed by at least two competent witnesses, and nobody may sign a witness’s name for them, even if the witness asks. Georgia does not honor oral wills, and it does not recognize a handwritten will that lacks witnesses. A heartfelt letter in a desk drawer will not control who inherits the house.
Notarization is not required for a will, though a self-proving affidavit is permitted and can make the document easier to admit later. Anyone 14 or older may make a will, and witnesses must also be at least 14. A codicil, meaning an amendment to an existing will, must be signed and witnessed with the same formality as the original. Crossing out a line or writing a note in the margin is not a safe way to make changes.
Trusts have their own rules. A Georgia express trust must be in writing and signed by the settlor. Under the Revised Georgia Trust Code, a settlor cannot change or revoke a trust unless the trust expressly reserves that power, and any change or revocation must itself be in writing and signed. People often assume a trust they created is automatically flexible. It is only as flexible as its own language allows.
Why Choose Bowman Law Firm for Lithonia Estate Planning
Bowman Law Firm is an estate planning, trust, and elder law practice that serves families in Lithonia and throughout DeKalb County, along with Gwinnett, Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth, and Hall counties and the greater Atlanta area. Her background includes trying cases for a national consumer law firm, serving as Law Clerk to a Federal Judge in Georgia, and handling personal injury cases on the defense side for a large Florida law firm. That mix of courtroom and chambers experience matters in estate work, because it means she knows how documents are read and challenged when a family dispute reaches a judge.
The firm’s guiding idea is that every client is a person first, a client second, and never a file number. In practice, you work directly with an attorney who knows your family and your goals, and the plan is built after a real conversation about who depends on you, what you own, and what worries you, not from a template. Staff speak English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, so families can plan in the language they are most comfortable with. Clients consistently describe the firm as knowledgeable, reassuring, and thoughtful, and one longtime client says she has worked with the attorney on hundreds of cases over seven years.
The process is straightforward. You begin with a free discovery call, which can be scheduled by phone, email, or online. An initial consultation to design your estate plan costs $100. Once your documents are prepared, you return for an in-person signing meeting where the plan is presented and explained before you sign anything. Virtual consultations are available for clients who cannot easily come in.
Documents and Planning Tools a Lithonia Family May Need
- Revocable Living Trust: Lets you keep control of your assets during life and names a successor trustee who can step in immediately if you are incapacitated. Property properly titled in the trust passes to beneficiaries without the court process a will requires. Be aware that during your lifetime, a revocable trust’s assets remain reachable by your creditors, so it is a privacy and continuity tool, not a shield.
- Last Will and Pour-Over Will: The will is where parents name a guardian for minor children, something a trust cannot do. A pour-over will catches any asset never moved into the trust and directs it there, serving as a safety net for a trust-based plan.
- Durable Financial Power of Attorney: Georgia’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act governs these documents. A power of attorney is durable unless it says otherwise, and it ends at the principal’s death. Execution requires the principal’s signature, a competent witness, and a notary who is not the witness, all in each other’s presence.
- Advance Directive for Health Care: Names a health care agent and records your wishes about life-sustaining treatment. It needs two adult witnesses of sound mind, but notarization is not required. Neither witness can be your agent or someone who stands to gain financially from your death, and your agent cannot be a physician directly involved in your care.
- Medicaid and Long-Term Care Planning: Georgia reviews transfers made during a 60-month look-back before a nursing home or waiver application. Gifts made for less than fair market value can trigger a penalty period of ineligibility, so the order and timing of planning steps matters a great deal.
- Spendthrift and Protective Trusts: A valid Georgia spendthrift provision must restrict both voluntary and involuntary transfers. It still will not stop claims for child support or alimony, taxes and other government claims, tort judgments, or certain other obligations, so expectations should be realistic.
- Digital Asset Instructions: Georgia’s fiduciary access law lets you authorize or prohibit a fiduciary’s access to online accounts in your will, trust, or power of attorney, though a direction given through an account’s own online tool can override those documents.
What to Do Now If You Are Putting a Plan in Place
Start by taking inventory, because every drafting decision follows from it. List your real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement plans, life insurance, business interests, and anything held jointly. Note who is currently named as beneficiary on each retirement account and policy. Those designations override your will, and they are the most common reason an otherwise careful plan sends money to an ex-spouse or a deceased relative.
Next, decide who you trust in each role: the person who will handle your money, the person who will make medical decisions, the guardian for any minor children, and the successor trustee. These can be different people, and choosing a backup for each is worth the effort. Then call for a free discovery call, bring your inventory to the initial consultation, and expect a plan built around what you actually own and who actually depends on you.
If someone in your family has already died or become incapacitated, the court path depends on the situation. Wills are offered for probate in the county probate court, and for a DeKalb County resident that is the Probate Court of DeKalb County in Decatur. Probate courts also handle guardianships and conservatorships for adults who can no longer manage their affairs. DeKalb Probate accepts electronic filing through the statewide Georgia eFile system. If a person lived elsewhere, the county of residence generally controls, which is why families with ties to Gwinnett, Fulton, Cobb, Forsyth, or Hall counties may deal with a different probate court.
Avoid the common mistakes: signing a will without two proper witnesses, creating a trust but never retitling the house and accounts into it, naming a witness who is also a beneficiary on a health care directive, and waiting until a parent needs a nursing home to think about Medicaid. Once a long-term care need arrives, the look-back period has already started working against you.
Funding, Updating, and Administering Your Plan
A signed trust is only half finished. It works only if assets are actually moved into it: deeds recorded in the trust’s name, accounts retitled, and beneficiary designations coordinated. An unfunded trust is among the most frequent mistakes in estate planning, and the firm treats trust funding as part of the engagement rather than an afterthought. If a trust is already in place and your life has changed, a trust amendment can update it without starting over, provided the change follows the signed-writing requirement.
Life events should trigger a review: marriage, divorce, a birth, a move, a business sale, or a major change in health or finances. Many families revisit their plans every few years even without a trigger. When a trust’s creator dies or becomes unable to serve, trust administration begins, and a successor trustee takes on real duties to beneficiaries. The firm assists successor trustees in understanding and carrying out those duties correctly.
For larger estates, the federal estate tax is the only tax layer that matters, since Georgia imposes none. The federal exclusion is high enough that most families will not owe it, which is why Lithonia planning usually centers on probate avoidance, incapacity, creditor exposure, and long-term care costs rather than tax minimization. Whether any federal planning is warranted depends on the size and makeup of your estate.
Lithonia Estate Planning Questions Answered
Do I need an estate plan if I do not own much?
Yes. If you own a home, have a retirement account, or have children, you benefit from naming who makes decisions for you and who inherits. Without a plan, Georgia’s default rules and a court decide those things instead.
Do I still need a will if I have a living trust?
Yes. A pour-over will sends any stray assets into the trust, and the will is where you name a guardian for minor children. A trust cannot do that.
Can I write my own will by hand?
A handwritten will is not enough on its own in Georgia. The state does not recognize holographic wills, so a will must be signed and attested by at least two competent witnesses. A homemade document that skips this step can be rejected entirely.
Does a notary have to be involved in my will?
No. Notarization is not required for a Georgia will, though a self-proving affidavit can streamline its later admission. Powers of attorney are different: they require a witness and a separate notary.
Will Georgia tax my estate or my heirs’ inheritance?
Georgia has no estate tax and no inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax can apply, and only to estates above a very high exclusion amount.
What happens to my power of attorney when I die?
It ends. A power of attorney terminates at the principal’s death, so your agent has no authority afterward. At that point your will or trust and the person you named to administer it take over.
Can a revocable trust protect my assets from creditors?
Not during your lifetime. Georgia law treats a revocable trust’s property as reachable by your creditors, and after death it can be reached if your probate estate cannot cover valid claims. Protection from creditors requires different structures, which is a separate conversation about goals and timing.
My parent may need a nursing home soon. Is it too late to plan?
Not necessarily, but options narrow. Georgia Medicaid looks back 60 months at transfers, and improper gifts can create a penalty period. Meeting early lets the firm look at which options remain and avoid steps that make the penalty worse.
Who can witness my health care directive?
Two adults of sound mind who are at least 18. They do not have to sign together. Neither may be your named agent, someone who will gain financially from your death, or someone directly involved in your care, and no more than one may be connected to the facility treating you.
What if I signed documents in another state before moving to Georgia?
Georgia generally honors a power of attorney that was validly executed under the law of the place where it was signed, and an out-of-state advance directive that is valid there is treated as compliant. Even so, banks and hospitals are often more comfortable with Georgia-form documents, so a review after a move is wise.
What happens to my email, photos, and online accounts?
Georgia’s fiduciary access law lets you authorize or restrict a fiduciary’s access in your will, trust, or power of attorney. A fiduciary’s access still depends on the platform’s terms of service and other laws, and cannot be used to impersonate you. Naming your wishes in writing is far better than leaving it unresolved.
Can you meet with my family in Spanish or Vietnamese?
Yes. Staff speak English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, and virtual consultations are available if travel is difficult.
Serving Lithonia and Communities Across DeKalb County and Metro Atlanta
Bowman Law Firm works with families in Lithonia and throughout DeKalb County, including Decatur, Doraville, Chamblee, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven. Along the Gwinnett side, the firm serves Lilburn, Peachtree Corners, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Suwanee, and Buford. Families in Fulton County, including Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and Roswell, also rely on the firm, as do clients in Cobb County communities such as Marietta. Farther north, the firm serves Cumming in Forsyth County and Gainesville in Hall County, along with Dalton. Whether your family has lived in Lithonia for generations or recently arrived in the Atlanta area, the same plan-first, person-first approach applies.
Speak With a Lithonia Estate Planning Attorney
A plan that exists only in your head does nothing for your family. If you are ready to put wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives in place, or to fix documents that no longer fit your life, a Lithonia estate planning attorney at Bowman Law Firm can walk you through each option in plain language. Call to schedule a free discovery call, and when you are ready, set an initial consultation with attorney Shireen Hormozdi Bowman to begin building a plan around your family.
