Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

So now you go changing the facts.

An attorney needs to see the deed. Who is listed under the heading grantees? Does it list A, B, C, D, E & F as joint tenants with right of survivorship or does it say A, B, C, D, E & F only?

People own land together as tenants in common UNLESS there are additional magic words indicating a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. If there are no magic words then they are tenants in common.

With right of survivorship, the last person to die gets it all and when he/she dies the land gets distributed as per a will, if any, or the state intestacy laws of the state where he/she lived at the time of death.

With a tenancy in common, this means that when one sibling dies, his/her share passes immediately as per his/her will or the intestacy laws of the state where he/she lived at the time of death. Usually this is spouse, if any, and children.

In your case there is nothing to indicate joint tenancy so this is a tenancy in common. If a sibling died with no spouse, children, grandchildren or lineal descendants, then you have to look at the state intestacy chart and it gets confusing here. Did the dead child have parents who were alive? If no, then any siblings? In such case it would go to siblings. But if the other siblings are dead, then you need to see if they had any spouse and/or children. At this stage, you would really need to see a probate/real estate attorney because it gets real complicated and without knowing exactly who died and when and drawing this all out on paper its just impossible to tell you who owns the land.

If there were six siblings and each had 2 kids or more you are going to end up with 12 or more people owning the land and it is going to be a nightmare to unravel. This is no way to be. First you need to figure out who owns the land and then you need to figure out whether the land should be sold or shares bought by those who really want it.