Rules of Inheritance

Beneficiaries vs Heirs

An heir is an individual who is entitled to inherit the property or assets of a deceased person based on the laws of intestate succession. Intestate succession refers to the legal distribution of an estate when the deceased person did not leave a valid will.

On the other hand, a beneficiary is a person or entity who is designated to receive assets or property through a legal document called a will.

It's worth noting that in some cases, an heir can also be a beneficiary. For example, if a deceased person leaves a will and designates their child as the beneficiary of a specific asset, that child would be both an heir and a beneficiary.

Heirs at Law

The Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) Section 53-2-1 determines who are heirs at law in Georgia. Generally, the heirs are:

• The spouse if there are no children (and no children who died before the decedent leaving living children of their own or descendants of living children)
• The spouse and children if there are children, and the children of any child or children who died before the decedent (as well as the deceased child's descendants if any of the deceased child's children also predeceased the decedent)
• The parents if there is no spouse or children, descendants of deceased children, grandchildren, etc.
• If no spouse, children, descendants of children, or parents survived the decedent, the brothers and sisters of the decedent and the descendants of any deceased brother or sister who predeceased the decedent
• If none of the above were living at decedent's death, the grandparents
• If none of the above, uncles and aunts and descendants of any deceased uncle or aunt, but if all uncles and aunts are deceased, then first cousins share equally, rather than siblings taking their parent's share

Review the Heirs Determination Worksheet to help you identify the heirs.