Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

You didn't say if there are other children or a spouse, or if he had significant assets. That matters.

Start by contacting the probate court in the county where he lived. If nothing has been filed, you may want to see a lawyer to determine if you should file to become temporary administrator.

I should add that there is no way you can know someone died with a will. A will can be revoked (and intentional destruction can revoke one). And even if there is a will, the named executor may have decided for any number of reasons not to proceed.

There are no repositories for wills. You can start with the clerk of the probate court in the county/state where your father resided at the time of his death to see if any will has been filed or an estate opened. If nothing has been done, you might start to see if your father had an attorney and see if the attorney has an executed will. If none, did your father have a safe deposit box? Have you made a diligent search of his home where he kept his important papers? If he had a spouse or other children, did you speak to any of them and ask if probate was necessary?

You do not indicate if your father was married, if there are other siblings,how the assets were titled and what assets were subject to probate. As noted by Attorney Ashman, if there were no probate assets to justify probate, then it may be that you were not notified.

However, it is very common here for people not to probate estates. It may that if you were an only child you did not do it or if there were other siblings or a spouse, you have assumed that these people would handle it and they have done nothing. In the latter case, you need to speak to them about probating an estate if justified. If you are an only child, then the task falls upon you to do the probate. In that instance, contact a probate lawyer in the county/state where your father lived to help guide you through the process and ensure that things are done correctly.

If there is a will and estate file already opened, then you need to review the will and see if you are included as a beneficiary, although it is strange that you would not be notified. You also need to look at who is the executor and see if the file contains an inventory of property. You need to review this and determine, if something does not look right, whether it would make sense for you to challenge the will. Again, speak to a local probate attorney about that.