- GuardianshipIn Georgia, each county has a Probate Court, which handles wills, supervises estates, grants guardianships and conservatorships over minors and incapacitated adults, and hears incompetency proceedings. An attorney who states that they practice in Probate Court may primarily handle the probate of estates, or may both handle the probate of estates and also handle guardianship and conservatorship proceedings. It may be helpful, when choosing an Elder Law attorney, to inquire if they have experience in the particular aspect of Probate Court proceedings in which you find yourself involved.
- Estate PlanningAttorney Althea Caces practices primarily in the areas of Probate, Elder Law, and Estate Planning in Cobb County. After growing up in Cobb County, and enjoying the atmosphere of the Marietta Square area, she chose to locate her office in downtown Marietta in 2002 and to focus her practice in this area, although she does handle matters outside of the Cobb County area at the request of clients.While she does extensive litigation involving guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, and estates, she also provides planning services to individuals of all ages who are making decisions as to the disposition of their estates, the management of their property through a power of attorney, and other related issues. As president of the Elder Law Section of the Cobb Bar Association from 2005-2014, she has remained actively involved in providing constantly updated information regarding these fields to the members of the Section and organized an annual Continuing Legal Education seminar that is available to attorneys around the state of Georgia.
- WillsA new format was approved by the legislature and became effective as of July 1, 2007. The new form is entitled “Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care†and incorporates much of the same information as the previous form, with some specific differences. The most obvious change is that the Living Will has now been incorporated as part of the Advance Directive for Health Care, under a section entitled “Treatment Preferences.†DPAHCs and Living Wills signed prior to July 1, 2007 are still valid.
- TrustsPeople often ask about “living trusts†or “revocable living trusts.†While these can be very helpful in certain situations, the expense and management of these trusts should be considered, and the pros and cons weighed carefully, before any decision is made to establish a revocable living trust. The goal of a revocable living trust is to avoid probate, but there is wide variation in states as to the expense and difficulty of the probate process, and we are fortunate in Georgia that our probate process is relatively straightforward and inexpensive.
- Power of AttorneyA “power of attorney†is a legal document in which a person, called the “principal,†gives to another person, called the “agent†or “attorney-in-fact,†the authority to make decisions for the principal. A “general†power of attorney gives broad power to the named agent to act on behalf of the principal, while a “limited†power of attorney is generally used for one specific purpose. Traditionally, it is recommended that all adults who have capacity to do so, regardless of age, execute powers of attorney for finances and for healthcare, so that, if an emergency arises, they have had the opportunity to designate the individual whom they want to handle their healthcare decisions and financial issues.
- Probate