Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

Unfortunately, no. You have to administer the estate, which will, factoring in all the costs, cost you as much or more than the rent check. There may be other reasons you need to do a probate anyway, so sit down with a lawyer.

Since the check is made payable to your father's estate, the answer given by Attorney Ashman is correct.

Unfortunately, you leave out the pertinent details. Was your father married and did he have a living spouse? If not, are there any other children besides you? What other assets and debts did your father have?

Many states have a simplified process for very small estates. In such case, you do not need to go through a full blown probate and can use the affidavit for collection of assets, like monies in any bank accounts.

If you are the only heir, there are no other significant assets (house, car etc.) and little to not debts then perhaps you can do something like this.

I suggest that if you can afford to do so that you sit down with a probate attorney who practices law in the county where your father lived at the time of his death and pay for a consult with the attorney about probate and whether there is a need for it here. If you cannot afford that, then at least talk to the clerk of the probate court. The clerk has the forms you will need. I would set up an appointment and come prepared with a list of assets owned by your father, a list of the potential heirs (including their addresses), a list of the debts and the death certificate. Review whether there is a need for probate and see if there is a simplified procedure you can use.

If you must set up an estate bank account then you deposit the estate check into the estate account and you pay estate bills (funeral, cost of probate, any other debts of your father) from the estate account. If there is not enough money, then claims are paid in order of priority and when you run out of money all other claims are denied. If there is money left over, then it is distributed to the heirs as per the state intestacy law.