Petition for Accounting and Inventory: What Georgia Heirs and Beneficiaries Need to Know
If you are an heir or beneficiary of a Georgia estate or trust, you have important rights to information about the assets held by an executor or trustee for your benefit.
Georgia law provides heirs and beneficiaries with legal tools to obtain information about the administration of an estate or trust. A petition for accounting and inventory can require an executor, administrator, or trustee by court order to disclose the assets under their control and account for how those assets have been managed.
Importantly, you do not have to prove that assets were stolen or mismanaged before seeking an accounting. The accounting itself can help determine whether misconduct has occurred.
What Is an Accounting and Inventory?
An estate inventory identifies the assets the executor or administrator holds in the estate. An accounting shows what happened to those assets, including money received, expenses paid, real estate sold, and distributions made.
Together, the Accounting and Inventory answer two basic questions: What assets are there? Where did the money go?
Whether it is an estate in probate court or a trust in superior court, the principle is the same: beneficiaries have rights, and fiduciaries have duties. If you are a beneficiary, the executor, administrator, or trustee is required to account for the assets they control. They have a duty to SHOW YOU THE MONEY!
Who Has the Right to Request an Accounting?
Georgia law expressly recognizes the rights of heirs and beneficiaries.
For probate estates, an heir or beneficiary can proactively file a petition for accounting and inventory once six months have passed since the executor or administrator was appointed. The petition asks the probate court to require the personal representative to account for the estate’s assets and administration.
Trust beneficiaries also have rights to information concerning trust administration. Depending on the circumstances, a trustee may be required to provide information about the trust's assets, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, and administration.
The key point is simple: heirs and beneficiaries have rights of their own and do not have to rely solely on what the fiduciary chooses to tell them.
What Information Can an Accounting Reveal?
An estate or trust accounting can help determine:
- What assets are being administered;
- What money or property has been received;
- What expenses have been paid;
- Whether assets have been sold or transferred;
- What distributions have been made; and
- How the fiduciary has managed the property.
This information can uncover missing assets, unexplained withdrawals, improper distributions, self-dealing, excessive expenses, or other potential breaches of fiduciary duty.
Are Inventories and Accountings Required Automatically?
In many estates, yes, although there are exceptions.
Unless properly waived or dispensed with, a Georgia executor or administrator of an estate generally must file an inventory within six months after qualification. When annual returns are required, they generally must be filed within 60 days after each anniversary of qualification.
A will or a waiver by heirs or beneficiaries may alter certain reporting requirements. However, an executor's statement that “I don't have to give you an accounting” does not necessarily end the inquiry. The will, probate filings, waivers, beneficiary’s or heir’s interest, and circumstances of the administration must be considered when an accounting is demanded by petition filed with the court.
Trustees likewise have statutory duties to provide information and accountings to certain beneficiaries, subject to the terms of the trust and applicable Georgia law. However, a formal petition for accounting and inventory may be necessary to compel the trustee by order of the Superior Court.
What Happens If a Fiduciary Refuses to Account?
In an estate matter, the probate court may require the personal representative to appear for a settlement of accounts. Depending on the circumstances, failure to fulfill fiduciary obligations may also result in additional remedies, including removal.
Trust beneficiaries may similarly seek judicial relief, including an accounting, an order compelling the trustee to perform required duties, damages, or removal of the trustee.
Heirs and Beneficiaries Have Rights
Executors, administrators, and trustees often control both the assets and the financial records relating to them. That does not mean heirs and beneficiaries must simply accept a lack of information.
If you are an heir or beneficiary of a Georgia estate or trust, you have the right to know what property is being administered and what the fiduciary has done with it. In turn, the executor, administrator, or trustee has a duty to provide the required accounting and inventory.
Concerned About a Georgia Estate or Trust?
Meyring Law Firm represents heirs and beneficiaries in Georgia estate and trust matters involving inventories, accountings, missing assets, fiduciary duties, and other administration disputes.
Call Meyring Law Firm at (678) 257-3332 to discuss your situation with an experienced Georgia probate attorney.
Or schedule a consultation online and let our team help you get the answers and the accountability you deserve.