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2018 Georgia Code 53-5-24 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 53-5-24 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 53-5-24

TITLE 53 WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES

Section 5. Probate, 53-5-1 through 53-5-71.

ARTICLE 4 WITNESSES; SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT; EXPENSES

53-5-24. Unavailability of subscribing witnesses.

When it appears that a will cannot be proved as otherwise provided by law because at the time the will is offered for probate one or more of the subscribing witnesses to the will is dead or mentally or physically incapable of testifying or otherwise inaccessible, the court may admit the will to probate in common or solemn form upon the testimony in person or by affidavit or by deposition of at least two credible disinterested witnesses that the signature to the will is that of the individual whose will it purports to be or upon other sufficient proof of such signature. This Code section shall not preclude the court, in its discretion, from requiring, in addition, the testimony in person or by deposition of any available subscribing witness or proof of such other pertinent facts and circumstances as the court may deem necessary to admit the will to probate.

(Code 1981, §53-5-24, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10.)

COMMENT

This section carries forward the substance of former OCGA Sec. 53-3-18.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Proof of signature from lawyer and paralegal.

- Although the witnesses to a will were deceased, the lawyer who prepared the will and the lawyer's paralegal were not permitted to testify that the signature on the will was the decedent's because the lawyer and paralegal did not demonstrate a familiarity with the decedent's signature. Ammons v. Clouds, 295 Ga. 225, 758 S.E.2d 282 (2014).

Cited in Harvey v. Sullivan, 272 Ga. 392, 529 S.E.2d 889 (2000).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 80 Am. Jur. 2d, Wills, § 853.

C.J.S.

- 95 C.J.S., Wills, §§ 616 et seq., 626, 661 et seq.

Cases Citing Georgia Code 53-5-24 From Courtlistener.com

Total Results: 4

AMMONS Et Al. v. CLOUDS Et Al.

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2014-05-05

Citation: 295 Ga. 225, 758 S.E.2d 282, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 1261, 2014 WL 1765944, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 350

Snippet: deceased. Propounders sought to invoke OCGA § 53-5-24, under which, when a witness to a will is not available

Mason v. Phillips

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2012-01-23

Citation: 290 Ga. 433, 722 S.E.2d 49, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 194, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 93

Snippet: OCGA § 53-3-18 (1997) (current version at OCGA § 53-5-24 (2011)); see Harvey v. Sullivan, 272 Ga. 392 (2)

Parker v. Melican

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2009-10-19

Citation: 684 S.E.2d 654, 286 Ga. 185

Snippet: thereby making them unavailable under OCGA § 53-5-24 and authorizing the jury to consider other evidence

Harvey v. Sullivan

Court: Supreme Court of Georgia | Date Filed: 2000-05-08

Citation: 529 S.E.2d 889, 272 Ga. 392, 2000 Fulton County D. Rep. 1732, 2000 Ga. LEXIS 388

Snippet: without being completed. In accordance with OCGA § 53-5-24[1], the propounder put on a series of witnesses