How do you divide property if theres no will?

One cannot transfer real estate verbally in Georgia, so the giving of the land to your brother was not enforceable. When there is no Will, the property of the person who passed away would be divided “per stirpes”.

What that means, in very broad terms, and without taking into account exceptions which may exist, and given the fact that there were 5 kids, when your first parent passed away, the surviving parent would be entitled to 1/3 of the estate, and the rest would be divided between the deceased parent’s children. When the second parent passed away, the 1/3 he or she received from the first parent, along with any property the second parent had when they passed, would be divided between the children of the second parent equally. If one of the children passed away, as your sister did, her share would go to her children or grandchildren if she had no children. If she had no descendants, her share would go likely go to her remaining descendants.

Please note that this is complicated, and there are exceptions (such as property held as joint tenants with rights of survivorship), but can be easily sorted out in person where a lawyer can ask you more specific questions. There is also a method by which you and your other siblings could possibly agree to give your brother the property your father verbally said was his, should the rest of you choose to do this.

Call a local probate attorney and go over all of the facts with them. They can answer this quickly and easily and, as you can see from my response, this is something which can be explained verbally in person alot easier than here.


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