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2018 Georgia Code 15-9-31 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 15-9-31 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 15-9-31

TITLE 15 COURTS

Section 9. Probate Courts, 15-9-1 through 15-9-158.

ARTICLE 2 JURISDICTION, POWER, AND DUTIES

15-9-31. Authority of judge of probate court to grant administration.

The judge of the probate court can grant administration only on the estate of a person who was:

  1. A resident at the time of his death of the county where the application is made; or
  2. A nonresident of the state, with property in the county where the application is made or with a bona fide cause of action against some person therein.

(Orig. Code 1863, § 308; Code 1868, § 368; Code 1873, § 333; Code 1882, § 333; Civil Code 1895, § 4234; Civil Code 1910, § 4792; Code 1933, § 24-1902.)

Cross references.

- Jurisdiction of probate court over probate of wills generally, § 53-3-1.

Law reviews.

- For annual survey article discussing trial practice and procedure, see 51 Mercer L. Rev. 487 (1999).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Residence of testator at death confers exclusive jurisdiction on ordinary (now probate judge) of that county. City of Blakely v. Hilton, 150 Ga. 27, 102 S.E. 340 (1920).

Administration of estate of county property of nonresident decedent.

- If a nonresident of the state dies, owning bonds and promissory notes, which are in the possession of one residing in a county of this state, such person may be said to have property in that county, and the probate judge of that county may grant administration on the deceased's estate. Robbins v. National Bank, 241 Ga. 538, 246 S.E.2d 660 (1978).

Cause of action is personalty, and because the situs of personalty follows the owner thereof and is controlled by the domicile of the owner, a cause of action belonging to a nonresident could not be probated, and an attorney's files that made up that cause were likewise not property subject to probate. Escareno v. Noltina Crucible & Refractory Corp., 172 F.R.D. 522 (N.D. Ga. 1997).

Bonds and notes of nonresident held by person in county are property. McLaren v. Bradford, 52 Ga. 648 (1874).

Cause of action or injury sufficient basis.

- Administration of a nonresident's estate does not require ownership of tangible property in the state, but rather, the presence of a cause of action or injury to the decedent is a sufficient basis. Escareno v. Carl Nolte Sohne GmbH, 270 Ga. 264, 507 S.E.2d 743 (1998).

Pending lawsuit of decedent.

- Statute authorized the appointment of an administrator for an estate in the county where the decedent had a pending lawsuit. Escareno v. Noltina Crucible and Refractory Corp., 163 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 1998).

Jurisdiction is not lost because of prior appointment of administrator in the state where the nonresident owner was domiciled at the time of death. Ott v. Hutchinson, 91 Ga. 31, 16 S.E. 106 (1892); Jones v. Cooner, 142 Ga. 127, 82 S.E. 445 (1914).

Administrator should be appointed when estate may be created.

- If there is no tangible estate, but when there is something to be done by an administrator which in contemplation of law may create an estate, such as suing for the death of a decedent, an administrator should be appointed. Robbins v. National Bank, 241 Ga. 538, 246 S.E.2d 660 (1978).

Cited in McPhail v. Barnhill, 42 Ga. App. 505, 156 S.E. 466 (1931); Smith v. Scarborough, 182 Ga. 157, 185 S.E. 105 (1936); Scarborough v. Long, 186 Ga. 412, 197 S.E. 796 (1938); Bell v. Southwell, 376 F.2d 659 (5th Cir. 1967); Guyett v. Guyett, 160 Ga. App. 622, 287 S.E.2d 632 (1981); Escareno v. Carl Nolte Sohne GmbH & Co., 77 F.3d 407 (11th Cir. 1996); Wright v. Goss, 229 Ga. App. 393, 494 S.E.2d 23 (1997); Escareno v. Noltina Crucible & Refractory Corp., 139 F.3d 1456 (11th Cir. 1998); Escareno v. Noltina Crucible & Refractory Corp., 172 F.R.D. 517 (N.D. Ga. 1994).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Power to impound assets of nonresident decedent in state, 44 A.L.R. 801.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 15-9-31

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Escareno v. Carl Nolte Sohne GmbH, 270 Ga. 264 (Ga. 1998).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 23, 1998 | 507 S.E.2d 743, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 3942

...estate was proper based upon a pending cause of action in Fulton County against Carl Nolte Sohne GmbH, a foreign defendant, or upon the presence of the case file in the decedent’s counsel’s office in Fulton County. Because we conclude that OCGA § 15-9-31 (2) authorizes the appointment of an administrator for an estate in the county where the decedent had a pending lawsuit, we answer the question in the affirmative. In 1990, while working in Georgia, Escareno suffered third-degree burns ov...
...e appointment of Philip Grant as administrator of the estate, which was granted. Grant then sought substitution as plaintiff. The district court again dismissed the suit, holding that the probate court in Fulton County lacked jurisdiction under OCGA § 15-9-31 to appoint an administrator because Escareno, a resident of Mexico, did not have property in Fulton County or a cause of action against a Fulton County resident. OCGA § 15-9-32 and OCGA § 15-9-31 (2) address the jurisdiction of a probate court over the estate of a nonresident....
...ion of a nonresident’s estate shall be made in a county where some portion of the estate is. located. These provisions evidence an intent for the situs of the estate to follow the location of the cause of action. Reading these provisions with OCGA § 15-9-31 (2), which provides that a probate court can grant administration on the estate of a nonresident person “with a bona fide cause of action against some person therein,” demonstrates that the pendency of a nonresident decedent’s lawsui...