Estate Planning
Estate Planning Attorney in Cartersville, Georgia
An estate plan isn't really about death. It's about who can act on your behalf if you can't, who receives what you've built, and whether the people you leave behind spend their first year grieving or tied up in probate court.
The basics
Wills and core estate plans
For most families, a well-drafted core plan covers everything that needs doing. A complete Georgia estate plan usually includes four documents.
- A last will and testament. Names your executor, directs how your property is distributed, and, if you have minor children, nominates their guardian.
- A financial power of attorney. Authorizes someone to handle your finances if you're unable to. Without one, the alternative is a conservatorship proceeding in probate court.
- An advance directive for health care. Combines a health care agent designation with your treatment preferences under Georgia's statutory form.
- Beneficiary designations. Reviewed and coordinated with your plan. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by designation, not by will, and a stale beneficiary form is the single most common defect we see in estate plans.
We also handle guardian nominations for minor children, specific bequests of personal property, and updates after a marriage, divorce, birth, or death.
Trusts
Revocable living trusts
A revocable living trust lets you keep full control of your assets during your lifetime while arranging for them to pass to your beneficiaries without probate. You can amend or revoke it at any time. A trust is worth considering if you own property in more than one state, want privacy, want to control the timing of distributions rather than handing a beneficiary a lump sum at eighteen, or are planning for a beneficiary with a disability or a creditor problem.
A word on funding. An unfunded trust is the most expensive worthless document in estate planning. If your house is still titled in your own name when you die, the trust doesn't control it, and your family ends up in probate anyway. Funding means retitling: deeding real property into the trust, updating account registrations, coordinating beneficiary designations. We prepare and record the deeds ourselves, and we don't consider a trust finished until it's funded.
Trusts, continued
Irrevocable trusts
Irrevocable trusts trade control for protection. Once assets go in, you generally can't take them back, which is what makes them effective for asset protection and certain long-term planning goals. Because they're difficult to unwind, the analysis before drafting matters more than the drafting itself. We'll tell you honestly if the tradeoff doesn't make sense for your situation. For most Georgia families, a revocable trust or a straightforward will-based plan does the job just as well.
Since 2024
Transfer-on-death deeds
Georgia began recognizing transfer-on-death deeds in July 2024. A TOD deed lets you name a beneficiary to receive a specific piece of real property at your death, outside probate, while you keep complete ownership and control during your lifetime. For the right situation, such as one property with one straightforward beneficiary, it can be a clean, inexpensive solution, though the beneficiary has to record an acceptance affidavit within a set window after your death or the property reverts to your estate. We can walk you through whether it fits your situation.
Who we work with
Families at every stage
Families with young children setting up a first plan. Homeowners who want their house to pass without probate. Business owners coordinating a succession plan alongside their estate plan. Blended families. Adult children handling a parent's affairs. And people who've been meaning to do this for years and are finally ready.
We also guide executors and families through the probate process itself. If that's where you are right now, our probate page covers that in more detail. We're based in Cartersville, and we work with families across Georgia, not just the counties closest to our office.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does Georgia have an estate tax or inheritance tax?
No. Georgia imposes neither. The only death-transfer tax most Georgians could face is the federal estate tax, and the federal exemption is high enough that very few estates owe anything. For nearly every Georgia family, estate planning is about probate, control, and clarity, not taxes.
Does having a will avoid probate?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding in estate planning. A will is the instruction manual for probate, not a way around it. Probate avoidance comes from how assets are titled and designated: joint ownership with survivorship, beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death deeds, and trusts. A will governs whatever is left over.
Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?
For a lot of Georgia families, a solid will-based plan with correct titling and current beneficiary designations does everything a trust would, for less money. Trusts earn their cost when there's out-of-state property, a need for privacy, or a beneficiary who needs extra protection.
What happens if I die without a will in Georgia?
Georgia's intestacy laws decide who inherits, in fixed shares that may not match your intentions, and the court selects your administrator. Intestacy is a default, not a plan.
Get started
Let's talk about your matter.
Whether it's a property closing, a corporate transaction, or an estate plan you've been meaning to get to, reach out and let's talk about what your matter needs.
The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this page or contacting The Mroczko Firm, LLC does not create an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship is formed only by a signed written engagement agreement.