Norcross Wills Lawyer

A will looks like the simplest document in estate planning, and that is exactly why so many of them fail on the day a family needs them. A signature in the wrong place, a witness who should not have been one, or a handwritten page that was never witnessed can leave a Gwinnett County family with no will at all. Bowman Law Firm is a Georgia estate planning and trust law firm that prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advance directives for families in Norcross and across the metro Atlanta area, and for a Norcross wills lawyer the first job is making sure the document will actually hold up.

Georgia is strict about how a will is made. A Norcross wills lawyer has to know that the state does not honor oral wills and does not recognize holographic wills, meaning a will written out by hand and never witnessed. A will has to be in writing, signed by the person making it, and attested by at least two competent witnesses. When one of those requirements is missed, Georgia’s intestacy rules decide who inherits, and the result can look nothing like what the person intended. A will also does the one thing a trust cannot do: it is the document where a parent names a guardian for minor children.

This is why our firm treats a will as part of a coordinated plan rather than a standalone form. Whether you need a simple will, a pour-over will that feeds a living trust, or a revision of an older document that no longer fits your family, the drafting and the signing both have to be done correctly.

Why Norcross Families Choose Bowman Law Firm for Their Wills

The firm handles estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advance directives, asset protection and Medicaid planning, elder law, trust funding, trust amendments, and trust administration for clients in Norcross, throughout Gwinnett County, and across Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Forsyth, and Hall counties. Clients work directly with an attorney who knows their family and their goals, and the staff speaks English, Spanish, and Vietnamese so a family can plan in the language they use at home. Virtual consultations are available for clients who cannot come in person.

Attorney Bowman’s background is broader than estate planning alone. She has tried cases for a national consumer law firm, served as Law Clerk to a Federal Judge in Georgia, and handled personal injury cases on the defense side for a large Florida law firm. That courtroom and chambers experience matters when drafting a will, because a will is a document that may someday be read by a probate court and challenged by a relative. Someone who has watched how disputes are argued and decided tends to draft with that reader in mind.

Client reviews describe the same qualities the firm aims for: attorneys who are knowledgeable, reassuring, and thoughtful, who stay on top of the work, and who guide people in the right direction. The firm’s guiding idea is that every client is a person first, a client second, and never a file number, which in practice means unhurried conversations and plain-language explanations before anything is signed.

What a Georgia Will Can and Cannot Do

• Naming a guardian for minor children: A will is where parents state who they want to raise their children if both parents die. A trust cannot make that appointment, which is why even families with elaborate trust plans still need a will.
• Directing who receives your property: A will lets you leave specific items, sums of money, or the remainder of your estate to the people and organizations you choose, instead of leaving the division to Georgia’s intestacy formula.
• Choosing your executor: The will names the person who will gather assets, pay debts, and carry out your instructions under the supervision of the probate court, so the decision is yours rather than a judge’s.
• Pour-over wills for trust-based plans: If you have a living trust, a pour-over will catches any asset that was never retitled into the trust and directs it there, acting as a safety net behind the trust.
• Codicils and amendments: A change to an existing will, called a codicil, must be signed and witnessed with the same formality as the original. A note scribbled in the margin or an unwitnessed addendum does not count.
• Digital assets: Georgia law lets you address access to email, cloud storage, and online accounts in your will, though an online tool provided by a platform can override what the will says, so the two should be coordinated.
• What a will cannot do alone: A will takes effect only at death, so it gives no one authority if you become incapacitated, and property passing under it generally goes through probate. Incapacity needs a power of attorney and an advance directive, and avoiding probate usually needs a funded trust.

Signing a Will in Georgia and What Happens Afterward

If you are putting a will in place, the most useful thing to do first is gather the facts a lawyer will need: a list of what you own and how each asset is titled, the full names of the people you want to benefit, the people you are considering as executor and guardian, and any existing documents. Retirement accounts and life insurance policies pass by beneficiary designation rather than by will, so those forms matter as much as the will itself and should be reviewed at the same time.

The signing is where homemade wills usually break. Georgia requires the will to be signed by you, or by another person in your presence and at your direction, and attested by two competent witnesses, who must be at least 14 years old. Someone else cannot sign a witness’s name for them, even if the witness asks. Notarization is not required for a will to be valid, but a self-proving affidavit is allowed, and it can make the will much easier to admit in probate later because the witnesses do not have to be tracked down years afterward. The minimum age to make a will is 14.

When the person who made the will dies, the original is filed with the probate court in the county where they lived. For Norcross residents that is typically the Probate Court of Gwinnett County in Lawrenceville, which handles probate of wills, estate administration, and guardianships. Gwinnett Probate accepts electronic filing through eFile GA. Families in neighboring counties deal with their own probate courts, including the Fulton County Probate Court, the DeKalb County Probate Court in Decatur, and the Cobb County Probate Court in Marietta. Because the original document is what the court needs, where it is stored and who knows about it deserves real thought; a will that cannot be found creates the same problem as a will that was never written.

Mistakes people commonly make include relying on an online form that was not built for Georgia’s witnessing rules, handwriting changes onto a signed will, naming a witness who is also a beneficiary, and never revisiting the will after a divorce, a birth, or a move. We recommend a review every three to five years and after any major life event. Our process begins with a free discovery call, followed by an initial consultation to design your plan for $100, and then an in-person signing meeting where the finished documents are presented and executed correctly.

When a Will Is Not Enough

For many Norcross families a will is the right core document, but it is rarely the whole answer. Property that passes through a will is subject to court involvement, takes time, and becomes part of the public record. A revocable living trust avoids that for the assets it holds, and in Georgia a revocable trust must be in writing and signed by the settlor, with any change also made in writing and signed. A trust only works if it is funded, which means retitling accounts and real estate into it, and our trust funding services exist because an unfunded trust is one of the most common planning mistakes we see.

Incapacity is the other gap. Georgia’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act requires a financial power of attorney to be signed by the principal, attested by a competent witness, and attested before a notary who is not that witness, and all of it must happen in the presence of everyone listed. A Georgia advance directive for health care requires two adult witnesses, and neither may be the agent you name or someone who stands to inherit from you. Without these, a family may need a court to appoint a guardian or conservator before anyone can act, and the will does nothing to prevent that.

Georgia has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, so for most families the real planning questions are control, privacy, incapacity, and long-term care costs rather than state tax. Medicaid planning is the exception that rewards early action: Georgia applies a 60-month look-back to transfers made for less than fair market value, and a transfer inside that window can trigger a period of ineligibility. A will will not address that, which is one reason we look at the whole picture before recommending a document.

Norcross Wills Questions Answered

Is a handwritten will valid in Georgia?

No. Georgia does not recognize a holographic will, which is a will written by hand and not witnessed. A handwritten document can be valid only if it also meets the normal requirements: it is signed and attested by two competent witnesses.

How many witnesses do I need to sign my will?

Two or more competent witnesses must attest and sign the will. Each witness must sign for themselves, because no one else may sign a witness’s name, even in the witness’s presence and at their direction.

Does a will have to be notarized in Georgia?

No, notarization is not required for a will to be valid. Georgia does allow a self-proving affidavit, which is typically notarized and can make the will easier to admit in probate because it can reduce the need to locate witnesses later.

Can I make my own will with an online form?

It is legally possible, but risky. Online forms are written for many states, and a missed witnessing requirement or an unclear beneficiary clause may not surface until after death, when no one can correct it. A will that fails leaves your estate to Georgia’s intestacy rules.

What happens if I die without a will in Georgia?

Georgia’s intestacy laws divide your estate among relatives by a fixed formula, usually involving a spouse and children. You also lose the chance to choose your executor or name a guardian for minor children.

If I have a living trust, do I still need a will?

Yes. A pour-over will sweeps any asset left outside the trust into it, and the will is also where you name a guardian for minor children, which a trust cannot do.

How old do you have to be to make a will in Georgia?

The minimum age to make a will is 14, and witnesses must also be at least 14. Having the legal capacity to sign is a separate question from whether a will is well planned, and most people benefit from drafting one once they own property or have dependents.

How do I change my will after it has been signed?

You can sign a new will that replaces the old one, or add a codicil. A codicil must be signed by you and attested by witnesses with the same formality as a will. Writing on the original, or adding an unwitnessed note, does not reliably change anything and can create a dispute.

Can a will protect my family from nursing home costs?

No. A will takes effect only at death, so it does nothing during your lifetime. Protecting savings from long-term care costs requires planning such as a Medicaid asset protection trust, and because of Georgia’s 60-month look-back on certain transfers, starting early gives you the most options.

What happens to my email and online accounts when I die?

Georgia’s digital assets law lets you state in your will whether a fiduciary may access your accounts, but an instruction you give through a platform’s own online tool can override a conflicting will. A fiduciary’s access is also limited by the platform’s terms of service and copyright law, so it helps to coordinate these instructions.

Where is a will filed after someone passes away in the Norcross area?

The original will is filed with the probate court of the county where the person lived. For Gwinnett County residents, that is the Probate Court of Gwinnett County in Lawrenceville, which accepts electronic filing through eFile GA.

Can Bowman Law Firm prepare my will in Spanish or Vietnamese?

Our staff speaks English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, so you and your family can discuss your wishes in the language you are most comfortable with before signing a document in English.

Wills Representation for Norcross and Surrounding Communities

We prepare wills for families in Norcross and throughout Gwinnett County, including neighbors in Peachtree Corners, Duluth, Lilburn, Lawrenceville, Suwanee, and Buford. Along the Buford Highway corridor we work with the communities of Doraville, Chamblee, and Brookhaven in DeKalb County. In north Fulton we serve families in Johns Creek, Alpharetta, and Roswell, and in the Perimeter area we help clients in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. We also serve Marietta in Cobb County, Decatur in DeKalb County, Cumming in Forsyth County, and Gainesville and Dalton to the north, with the same personal attention clients receive in Norcross. Virtual consultations are available for families who prefer to meet remotely.

Speak With a Norcross Wills Attorney at Bowman Law Firm

A will only works if it was signed correctly, coordinated with the rest of your plan, and updated as your life changes. If you are starting from scratch, replacing an old document, or wondering whether a will alone is enough, a conversation with a Norcross wills attorney is a good place to find out. Call Bowman Law Firm to schedule a free discovery call or an initial consultation with attorney Shireen Hormozdi Bowman, and we will help you put a plan in place that your family can rely on.