Category Archives: Estate Planning
Can a Georgia Resident Borrow Another State’s Asset Protection Trust?
Imagine placing your savings into a trust, continuing to receive distributions from it, and still keeping future creditors away from the money. Roughly twenty states allow a version of that arrangement, known as a domestic asset protection trust, or DAPT. Georgia is not one of them. So our Norcross estate planning attorneys often hear… Read More »
Who Gets the House? Joint Tenancy vs. Tenancy in Common in Gwinnett County
Two friends buy a rental home in Lawrenceville. A married couple closes on a house in Suwanee. A parent adds an adult child to the deed in Duluth. Each of them assumes the paperwork says what they intended, but does it? The wording of a deed can decide who owns a property after a… Read More »
Pour Over Wills in Georgia: The Quiet Safety Net Behind Your Trust
Picture this. You spend weeks setting up a revocable living trust, sign every page, and feel wonderfully finished. Two years later you open a new brokerage account and forget to put it in the trust’s name. What happens to that account when you pass away? That small gap is exactly why the pour over… Read More »
What Happens to Your Pet When You Are Gone? Georgia’s Pet Trust Law Explained
Who will feed the cat at 6 a.m. if you cannot? It is a question that catches most estate planning clients off guard, mostly because pets rarely make it onto the standard checklist of wills, beneficiaries, and powers of attorney. Yet for many Georgia families, a dog or cat is as central to daily… Read More »
Your Rental Property Is a Business. Does Your Estate Plan Treat It Like One?
If you own a rental property, you already manage leases, tenants, repairs, and a mortgage or two. That is, functionally, a small business. So why does the estate plan protecting it so often consist of a will written years ago that never mentions the property at all? That gap deserves more attention than it… Read More »
Deportation Does Not Mean You Have to Lose Your Home
If you are undocumented or concerned about deportation, you may be worried about what will happen to your home and other property if you are forced to leave the United States. Being deported, by itself, does not mean you lose your house. You do not have to be a U.S. citizen to own real… Read More »
Georgia Transfer-on-Death Deeds: Important Changes to the Law in 2026
Georgia’s Transfer-on-Death Deed law is still relatively new, and the Georgia Legislature has already made significant changes to it. Transfer-on-Death Deeds, commonly called TOD Deeds, became formally available in Georgia on July 1, 2024, under O.C.G.A. § 44-17-1 et seq. A TOD Deed allows a property owner to designate one or more beneficiaries to… Read More »
Could Someone Be Quietly Draining a Parent’s Savings?
If your aging parent suddenly seems anxious about money, or a new friend has become unusually involved in their finances, would you know what to look for? Financial exploitation of older adults rarely announces itself. It tends to creep in gradually, often disguised as help, friendship, or even family loyalty. For families in Georgia,… Read More »
Legal Planning for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care: What Every Georgia Family Should Know
Have you ever wondered what happens to a loved one’s finances or medical decisions once a dementia diagnosis takes away their ability to manage those things alone? For many Georgia families, this question arrives suddenly, often in the middle of a hospital visit or a hard conversation with a doctor. Planning ahead, before a… Read More »
How Long Term Care Costs Are Quietly Reshaping Family Finances Across Georgia
What would it mean for your family’s finances if a parent needed a year, or several years, of nursing home care? It is a question many Georgia families are only asking after the need has already arrived, and by then, the financial pressure has already begun. The Numbers Behind the Question Long-term care in… Read More »
