Certification of a Will - A Georgian Will for Georgian Assets, Made in an Afternoon

What a notarial will is under the Civil Code of Georgia

The Civil Code allows a person of full capacity to dispose of their property by will, and recognizes a notarial will - drawn up by the notary or presented to the notary by the testator, read to the testator, signed by the testator in the notary's presence and certified by the notary - as the safest form; Georgian law also knows the handwritten (holographic) will and the will made before witnesses in specific circumstances, but a notarial will is the one that a Georgian notary opening the succession acts on without proof, that the Public Registry and banks accept, and that survives challenges best. The notary establishes the testator's identity and capacity, ascertains that the will expresses the testator's free intention, explains the compulsory-share rules, draws up the text in the form the law requires, has it signed and certifies it, and registers the will in the electronic register of wills kept by the Notary Chamber, so that after the testator's death any Georgian notary opening the succession finds it. The will itself is kept by the notary and a copy given to the testator; its content remains confidential during the testator's life.

Why a foreign national should make a separate Georgian will

Georgian private international law applies, as a general rule, the law of the deceased's last habitual residence or nationality to the succession as a whole, but the practical reality is that Georgian assets - real estate at the Public Registry, accounts at Georgian banks, shares in Georgian companies, vehicles at the Service Agency - are transferred by Georgian notaries and registries on Georgian documents, and a foreign will must first be recognized, apostilled, translated and interpreted under foreign law before a Georgian notary can act on it, a process that takes years and lawyers on both sides. A Georgian notarial will limited to the Georgian assets is found in the register the day the succession opens, is applied by the notary directly, and lets the heirs obtain the certificate of inheritance in the ordinary six months; it is drafted to sit alongside the testator's will at home, disposing only of Georgian assets and stating so, so that the two do not conflict. Foreign owners of Batumi and Tbilisi apartments, foreign founders of Georgian companies and foreigners with Georgian bank deposits are the clients who make these wills most, and we draft them in Georgian with a parallel column in the testator's language, with our interpreter present and recorded in the act.

What a will can do, and the compulsory share

A will can appoint one or several heirs to the whole estate or to shares of it, leave specific assets (a legacy) to named persons, appoint substitute heirs if a named heir dies first or refuses, impose conditions and obligations, appoint an executor, and disinherit legal heirs, subject to one limit that surprises foreign testators: under the Civil Code, the testator's descendants, parents and spouse who would inherit by law are entitled, whatever the will says, to a compulsory share, which is half of what they would have received without a will, and a will that ignores it is reduced accordingly when the succession opens. The notary explains this at the drafting and the will is written so that the testator's intentions are carried out within the rule - for instance by leaving the compulsory heirs their share and disposing of the rest freely. Property acquired during marriage is presumed joint between spouses, so a testator disposes of their half; the other half is the surviving spouse's regardless. We advise on all of this before drafting, and where the testator's home law differs sharply, we suggest a lawyer's review of how the Georgian will and the home will interact.

Joint wills, secret wills and wills of foreigners

Georgian law allows spouses to make a joint will, in which each disposes of their property and typically appoints the other as heir with substitutes, revocable by either during both lives and binding after the first death within the terms set; international couples with Georgian property use this form. It also allows a secret will, sealed by the testator and deposited with the notary without the notary reading it, opened after death before witnesses, which some testators choose for privacy. A foreign national makes a Georgian will on the same terms as a Georgian, identified by passport (translated and notarized for the notary's file beforehand), with an interpreter present and recorded where the testator does not understand Georgian, and with the will drafted bilingually so that the testator reads every clause in their language; a will made in a language the testator does not understand, without an interpreter, is open to challenge, which is why we never do it that way.

Revocation, amendment and later wills

A will is revocable at any time. The testator revokes it by making a new notarial will, by a notarial declaration of revocation, or, for a handwritten will, by destroying it; a later will revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict, so a new Georgian will made without care can unintentionally revoke the will at home, and a will at home made later can revoke the Georgian one - we draft each Georgian will to state that it concerns Georgian assets only and does not affect other wills, and we advise the testator to have the home will say the same. Amendments are made by a new will or a codicil in notarial form. Every revocation and new will is registered, so the notary opening the succession sees the last valid disposition. We keep a client's wills in the notary's file and remind testators who buy or sell Georgian assets to update the will accordingly.

What to bring, the appointment and what happens after death

Bring your valid passport or Georgian ID; a list of the Georgian assets with identifying details (cadastral codes of property, bank and account details, company identification numbers and shareholdings, vehicle registrations); the full names, dates of birth and relationship to you of the heirs and legatees, with copies of their identity documents if available; and the names of any executor and substitute heirs. Send these on WhatsApp or Telegram in advance and we draft the will before the appointment, which then takes about an hour at Agmashenebeli 117: the notary confirms identity and capacity, explains the compulsory-share rule through our interpreter where needed, reads the will with you, you sign, the notary certifies and registers it, and you leave with a certified copy. Fees follow the official tariff for the certification of a will, with the bilingual drafting and interpreter quoted separately in advance. After death, an heir or executor presents the death certificate to any Georgian notary, who finds the will in the register, opens the succession and issues the certificate of inheritance after the six-month period; our notary handles that stage for the heirs, with the same interpreter and translation service.

Frequently asked questions

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