---
type: "Bill"
title: "Wills, trusts, and administration of estates; Revised Probate Code of 1998; revise and update provisions"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 53 of the O.C.G.A., relating to wills, trusts, and administration of estates; to amend Part 12 of Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 7 of the O.C.G.A., relating to deposits of deceased depositors; to amend Title 9 of the O.C.G.A., relating to civil practice; to amend Title 10 of the O.C.G.A., relating to commerce and trade; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 13 of the O.C.G.A., relating to statute of frauds; to amend Chapter 9 of Title 15 of the O.C.G.A., relating to probate courts; to amend Title 19 of the O.C.G.A., relating to domestic relations; to amend Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 23 of the O.C.G.A., relating to fraud; to amend Chapter 27 of Title 50 of the O.C.G.A., relating to lottery for education; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2019_20"
identifier: "HB 865"
citation: "Georgia HB 865 (2019_20)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barry Fleming", "Bonnie Rich", "David Dreyer", "Deborah Silcox", "Mitchell Scoggins"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2020-01-31"
last_action: "2021-01-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d768d2d6-403f-451a-b360-875e5a2982e5"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "7b791e55f7eebe15b7732168a83140b04969772052defe432268be644e7107e7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 865 (2019_20) — Wills, trusts, and administration of estates; Revised Probate Code of 1998; revise and update provisions

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 53 of the O.C.G.A., relating to wills, trusts, and administration of estates; to amend Part 12 of Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 7 of the O.C.G.A., relating to deposits of deceased depositors; to amend Title 9 of the O.C.G.A., relating to civil practice; to amend Title 10 of the O.C.G.A., relating to commerce and trade; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 13 of the O.C.G.A., relating to statute of frauds; to amend Chapter 9 of Title 15 of the O.C.G.A., relating to probate courts; to amend Title 19 of the O.C.G.A., relating to domestic relations; to amend Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 23 of the O.C.G.A., relating to fraud; to amend Chapter 27 of Title 50 of the O.C.G.A., relating to lottery for education; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 865/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/195246.pdf)
2. **LC 41 2234/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/189096.pdf)
3. **LC 41 2455S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/193249.pdf)
4. **LC 41 2455S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/192064.pdf)
5. **Sen ctee sub LC 41 2549S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20192020/193941.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **150–12** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barry Fleming — primary (person)
- Bonnie Rich — primary (person)
- David Dreyer — primary (person)
- Deborah Silcox — primary (person)
- Mitchell Scoggins — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-31** House Hopper
- **2020-02-03** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2020-02-04** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2020-02-05** House Withdrawn, Recommitted `withdrawal, referral-committee`
- **2020-03-04** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-12** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2020-03-12** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2020-03-13** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2020-06-15** Senate Withdrawn & Recommitted `withdrawal, referral-committee`
- **2020-06-18** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-06-19** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2020-06-22** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2020-06-22** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2020-06-25** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2020-07-02** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2020-07-29** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-07-29** Act 508 `executive-signature`
- **2021-01-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d768d2d6-403f-451a-b360-875e5a2982e5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).