Georgia Living Trust

Q: What is a living trust in Georgia and how does it differ from a will?

A living trust in Georgia is created under the Revised Georgia Trust Code, O.C.G.A. title 53, chapter 12, and holds assets for your benefit during your lifetime before distributing them to your beneficiaries when you die, avoiding Georgia probate for whatever you actually retitle into it. A will only takes effect at death and must go through Georgia probate. Anything you never funded into the trust, meaning it is still titled in your name alone, is not covered by the trust and goes through probate regardless of what the trust document says.

Q: Does Georgia require a living trust to be in writing, or can it be oral?

Georgia requires a writing. O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-20(a) states that an express trust shall be created or declared in writing and signed by the settlor, with no exception for a purely oral arrangement. This is stricter than the majority rule in states that will enforce an oral trust on clear and convincing evidence; in Georgia, a trust that is only spoken and never signed is not enforceable.

Q: Does a Georgia living trust need to be notarized or witnessed to be valid?

No, not the trust instrument itself. O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-20(b) requires only that the writing show the settlor's intent, identify trust property, name an ascertainable beneficiary, and name a trustee with duties to perform. Georgia case law going back to Smith v. Peacock confirms an express trust need only be in writing and signed. Notarization becomes unavoidable later, when you fund real property into the trust.

Q: What happens when I deed my Georgia home into my living trust, do I need a notary?

You need more than a notary. O.C.G.A. Section 44-5-30 requires the funding deed to be attested by both an authorized officer under Section 44-2-15, which includes a notary public, judge, magistrate, or clerk of superior court, and a separate lay witness. A deed with only a notary's signature and no additional witness is not a validly executed original document in Georgia.

Q: Does putting my Georgia home in a living trust affect my homestead exemption?

Georgia answers the property-tax version of this question directly: no. O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-54(a) extends the county ad valorem homestead exemption to a residence titled in a trustee's name as long as the settlor, as beneficiary, still occupies it. Most counties will require you to re-file the exemption application listing the trust as titleholder after the funding deed is recorded, so budget time for that step.

Q: Is there a transfer tax when I deed Georgia real estate into my living trust?

No. O.C.G.A. Section 48-6-2(a)(9) exempts a deed to or from a fiduciary, including a trustee, from Georgia's real estate transfer tax when the transfer is made without valuable consideration, which describes an ordinary self-trust funding deed. You still must file a PT-61 real estate transfer tax form at recording to document the exemption, even though no tax is owed.

Q: Does Georgia have a spousal elective share that reaches trust assets?

No. Georgia has no spousal elective share and no augmented estate at all, so a disinherited spouse cannot claim a statutory fraction of a decedent's estate the way a spouse in most common-law states could. Georgia's protection instead is year's support under O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapter 3, and whether a year's support petition reaches assets held in a revocable trust, rather than only the probate estate, is not resolved by the statute; ask a Georgia attorney if this matters to your plan.

Q: Can creditors reach assets in my Georgia revocable living trust?

Yes, during your lifetime. O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-82(a)(2)(A) subjects the entire corpus of a revocable trust to the settlor's creditors while the settlor is alive, so a revocable living trust gives you no lifetime asset protection in Georgia. Georgia is also not among the states that permit a self-settled asset protection trust, so even an irrevocable version funded by yourself would not shield assets from your own creditors.

The Georgia rules that shape the document: the Section 53-12-20 no-oral-trust writing requirement, the Section 44-5-30 two-attestation funding deed, and the absence of any spousal elective share.

Find out where you stand in Georgia

Where are you with your living trust?

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Introduction

A living trust moves your assets to a trustee during your lifetime so whatever you actually retitle into it can pass to your beneficiaries without Georgia probate; anything left titled in your own name still goes through probate no matter what the trust document says. Georgia's sharpest departure sits at creation, not funding: unlike the majority rule, Georgia does not recognize oral trusts at all. O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-20(a) requires every express trust to be created or declared in a writing signed by the settlor, with no exception for a purely oral arrangement. The trust instrument itself needs no notary or witness, since Section 53-12-20(b) lists only intent, trust property, an ascertainable beneficiary, a trustee, and trustee duties, but the deed that funds real property into the trust flips that pattern entirely: Section 44-5-30 requires it to be attested by both an authorized officer under Section 44-2-15 and a separate lay witness, two signatures where a settlor coming from most other states expects only one notarization.

Key Things to Know

1
Georgia's sharpest departure: O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-20(a) requires every express trust to be created or declared in a writing signed by the settlor. Georgia does not permit oral trusts at all, unlike the permissive majority rule, though the trust instrument itself needs no notary or witness under Section 53-12-20(b).
2
The Georgia funding trap: a deed conveying real property into the trust must be attested by both an authorized officer under Section 44-2-15 (a notary, judge, magistrate, or clerk of superior court) and a separate lay witness, under Section 44-5-30. A single notarization, adequate in most states, is not enough to make the deed a valid original document in Georgia.
3
Deeding your home into your Georgia living trust is exempt from the real estate transfer tax. O.C.G.A. Section 48-6-2(a)(9) excuses a deed to or from a fiduciary made without valuable consideration, though a PT-61 real estate transfer tax form must still be filed at recording to document the exemption.
4
Your county ad valorem homestead property-tax exemption follows your home into the trust. O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-54(a) extends the exemption to a homestead titled in a trustee's name where the settlor still occupies it, but most counties require you to re-file the exemption application listing the trust as titleholder after the deed is recorded.
5
Georgia is not a community property state; it is a common-law, separate-property state. When property is deeded to two or more people, including a married couple funding a joint trust, the default under O.C.G.A. Sections 44-6-120 and 44-6-190 is a tenancy in common, not survivorship, unless the deed expressly creates a joint tenancy.
6
Georgia has no spousal elective share and no augmented estate; a disinherited spouse cannot claim a statutory fraction of a decedent's trust-funded estate. The surviving spouse's remedy is year's support under O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapter 3, and whether a year's support petition can reach assets held in the settlor's revocable trust, as opposed to only the probate estate, is not resolved by the statute's text.
7
A revocable Georgia living trust gives you no protection from your own creditors while you are alive: O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-82(a)(2)(A) subjects the entire trust corpus to your creditors during your life, and Georgia is not among the states that allow a self-settled asset protection trust. Georgia also imposes no state estate or inheritance tax, and has not since O.C.G.A. Section 48-12-1 took effect on July 1, 2014.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Living Trust in Georgia, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Living Trust guide walks through them.

Open the Living Trust guide

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GEORGIA Living Trust (Compact State Terms)

This compact set states the Georgia-specific terms of a Living Trust. Use it together with the full national Living Trust template, which carries the declaration, definitions, trustee powers, and administrative provisions.

1. Governing Law. This trust and its administration are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, including the Revised Georgia Trust Code of 2010, O.C.G.A. title 53, chapter 12.

2. Execution. This trust shall be created and declared in a writing signed by the settlor, as required by O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-20(a); Georgia recognizes no oral trust. No notarization or witness is required to create this trust, provided it states the settlor's intent, identifies trust property, names an ascertainable beneficiary, and names a trustee with duties to perform (Section 53-12-20(b)).

3. Funding Real Property. A deed conveying Georgia real property to the trustee must be an original document signed by the settlor, attested by an authorized officer under O.C.G.A. Section 44-2-15, and attested by one additional witness, under Section 44-5-30. It is recorded with the clerk of superior court of the county where the property lies. The deed is exempt from Georgia's real estate transfer tax as a conveyance to a fiduciary without valuable consideration (Section 48-6-2(a)(9)), though a PT-61 form must still be filed at recording.

4. Homestead. If the settlor's residence is deeded into this trust, the settlor may claim the county ad valorem homestead exemption on the property while still occupying it, under O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-54(a); the settlor should re-file the exemption application with the county tax assessor listing the trust as titleholder after recording.

5. Co-Ownership; No Community Property. Georgia is a common-law property state. Property deeded to more than one person, including co-settlors of this trust, is held as a tenancy in common under O.C.G.A. Sections 44-6-120 and 44-6-190 unless the deed expressly creates a joint tenancy with right of survivorship.

6. Certificate of Trust. In place of the full instrument, the trustee may furnish a certification of trust under O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-280; it need not disclose the dispositive terms, and a person who demands the full instrument in bad faith is liable for the trustee's resulting damages and attorney's fees (Section 53-12-280(g)).

7. Perpetuities. An interest under this trust is valid if it vests or terminates within 21 years after the death of an individual alive at its creation, or within 360 years of creation, under O.C.G.A. Section 44-6-201(a) as amended effective July 1, 2018.

8. Creditor Claims; No Elective Share. This trust is revocable, and its assets remain subject to the settlor's creditors during life under O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-82(a)(2)(A). After the settlor's death, trust property is reachable by estate creditors only to the extent the probate estate is inadequate (Section 53-12-82(a)(2)(C)). Georgia has no spousal elective share; a surviving spouse's remedy is year's support under Title 53, Chapter 3.

This compact Georgia set supplements the national Living Trust template. It is general information, not legal advice; attorney review is available.

Georgia Requirements for Living Trust

Georgia Bars Oral Trusts; Writing Signed by Settlor Required
O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-20(a) requires every express trust to be created or declared in a writing signed by the settlor, with no exception for an oral trust. The trust instrument itself needs no notary or witness under Section 53-12-20(b), which lists only intent, trust property, an ascertainable beneficiary, and a trustee with duties to perform.
Georgia Funding Deed: Officer Plus Separate Witness
O.C.G.A. Section 44-5-30 requires a deed conveying Georgia real property to the trustee to be attested by both an authorized officer under Section 44-2-15 (notary, judge, magistrate, or clerk of superior court) and a separate lay witness, recorded with the clerk of superior court of the county where the property lies.
Georgia Transfer Tax Exemption on Trust Funding Deeds
O.C.G.A. Section 48-6-2(a)(9) exempts a deed to or from a fiduciary made without valuable consideration from Georgia's real estate transfer tax, covering an ordinary deed funding real property into a living trust. A PT-61 form must still be filed at recording to document the exemption.
Georgia Homestead Exemption Follows the Property Into the Trust
O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-54(a) extends the county ad valorem homestead property-tax exemption to a residence titled in a trustee's name where the settlor-beneficiary still occupies it. Most counties require the exemption application to be re-filed listing the trust as titleholder after the deed is recorded.
Georgia Certificate of Trust With Bad-Faith Demand Liability
O.C.G.A. Section 53-12-280 lets the trustee furnish a certification of trust in place of the full instrument, without disclosing dispositive terms, to a bank, title company, or other third party. A recipient who demands the full instrument in bad faith is liable for the trustee's resulting damages and attorney's fees under Section 53-12-280(g).
Georgia No Elective Share; Year's Support Only
Georgia has no spousal elective share or augmented estate. A surviving spouse's protection is year's support under O.C.G.A. Title 53, Chapter 3, and whether a year's support petition reaches assets held in a revocable trust, as opposed to only the probate estate, is not resolved by the statute's text.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a living trust in Georgia and how does it differ from a will?

Does Georgia require a living trust to be in writing, or can it be oral?

Does a Georgia living trust need to be notarized or witnessed to be valid?

What happens when I deed my Georgia home into my living trust, do I need a notary?

Does putting my Georgia home in a living trust affect my homestead exemption?

Is there a transfer tax when I deed Georgia real estate into my living trust?

Does Georgia have a spousal elective share that reaches trust assets?

Can creditors reach assets in my Georgia revocable living trust?

Find out where you stand in Georgia

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Living Trust Template with DocDraft

GEORGIA Living Trust (Compact State Terms)

Georgia Requirements for Living Trust

Georgia Bars Oral Trusts; Writing Signed by Settlor Required

Georgia Funding Deed: Officer Plus Separate Witness

Georgia Transfer Tax Exemption on Trust Funding Deeds

Georgia Homestead Exemption Follows the Property Into the Trust

Georgia Certificate of Trust With Bad-Faith Demand Liability

Georgia No Elective Share; Year's Support Only

Frequently Asked Questions