Unlike many other states, Georgia does not designate criminal offenses by class (for example, “Class A felony”). Instead, Georgia classifies crimes by misdemeanors and felonies. While sentences for both classifications can be life-altering, misdemeanor crimes are typically punishable by less than one year in a local jail and up to a $1,000 fine. On the other hand, felonies are punishable by one or more years in prison.

Serious felonies are punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty. To learn more about charges and potential penalties in Georgia, see our Georgia Criminal Defense page for categories of criminal offenses.

You have a 6th Amendment right to ask for an attorney if you are being interrogated by the police. In fact, you have the right to an attorney at almost every important phase of the criminal process, except while being arrested.

If you are being arrested, you have a 5th Amendment right to remain silent. You do not have to offer the police evidence or information that could later harm you at trial. Unfortunately, many criminal suspects are overly confident that they can handle police questioning on their own. However, answering questions without a qualified criminal defense attorney can cause a suspect to dig a hole that is very difficult to climb out of later. This is due in part to the fact that police interrogators are trained in the psychology of obtaining confessions, even false ones. Additionally, the police are legally allowed to lie to suspects during questioning.

Therefore, for practical reasons, be polite and respectful if you are stopped or approached by a police officer. If they want to bring you in for questioning, you should immediately exercise your 5th Amendment right to remain silent by declining the invitation, and exercise your 6th Amendment right to an attorney by directing them to your Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer.

No! You have a 5th Amendment right to refuse to answer questions that might incriminate you. Therefore, politely decline to answer the question when you have been pulled over by the police for suspicion of driving under the influence, and asked whether you have been drinking and/or how much you have been drinking. Although you have this constitutional right, a police officer may believe that your exercise of this right means that you have indeed committed a DUI or some other criminal offense (which is not true).

Because of these practical considerations, always be polite when speaking with the police and very selective about what you say. If you decline to answer their questions, do so politely. If you choose to answer, do not lie!

There are two types of breath tests. Prior to being arrested, the police officer may offer you a “road-side breath test” called an Alco-Sensor test. This test is not admissible in court, and it is totally voluntary. You do not have to take this test unless you want to do so.

The second type of breath test is conducted on a more accurate (but not totally accurate) machine located at the police station. This machine is called an Intoxilyzer 9000. The results of the Intoxilyzer 9000 are admissible in court. If you are arrested, you will likely be offered to take this type of breath test.

Under Georgia’s Implied Consent law, you impliedly consent to providing a sample of your breath, blood, or urine after a lawful arrest for DUI. If you refuse to give a sample, your drivers license will automatically be suspended for one year. From that point forward, you have 30 days to appeal the license suspension to the Department of Driver Services and request an Administrative License Suspension Hearing. However, recently the Georgia Supreme Court has held in Elliot v. State that the the refusal to submit to a breath test cannot later later be used against you at trial. This ruling, however, does not apply to blood samples. So, if you refuse to provide a blood sample, your refusal can, and likely will, be used against you at your criminal trial.

So, if you refuse to take an Intoxilyzer 9000 breath test after being arrested, you may lose your license for a year, but it cannot hurt you at your criminal trial.  Even so, you have the ability to appeal the license suspension, as long as you do so within 30 days of your arrest.

When a person dies without a will, their property passes in accordance with Georgia’s laws of intestate succession.  Generally speaking, that means that your property will pass to your heirs.  However, having a will can drastically simplify the probate process and will make handling your affairs far simpler for your loved ones.  

Also, if you have minor children, you can designate the person or persons you would like to serve as guardian of your children, in the event that the other legal parent passes before you do.  This type of planning makes things so much easier for your children in the event of your death.

According to O.C.G.A. § 19-5-2, you must be a bona fide resident of Georgia for at least six months prior to filing for divorce.

According to O.C.G.A. § 19-5-2, you must file for divorce in the county where the Defendant resides.  If you are the one who files the divorce complaint, that makes you the Plaintiff, and it makes your spouse the Defendant.  So, if you file first, you would file the divorce complaint in the county where your spouse lives.

Once a judge issues a final judgment and decree of divorce that divides all marital property, that portion of the decree can only be modified in very limited situations.  Generally speaking, property division provisions cannot be modified after a divorce.  However, child custody, child support, and alimony provisions can generally. be modified upon a showing of substantial change of circumstances.

Georgia’s Implied Consent law states that you impliedly consent to provide a sample of your blood, breath, or urine upon being arrested for DUI.  If you refuse to provide a sample, your license to drive will automatically be suspended for a period of one year.

HOWEVER, you have the right to appeal that license suspension by demanding an administrative license suspension hearing.  This hearing is held before an administrative law judge, which is a different judge than your judge for the DUI criminal charge.  At this ALS hearing, you can contest whether the officer properly followed Implied Consent warning procedures, whether the officer had probable cause. toarrest you, and whether you actually refused to provide a sample.

It is IMPERATIVE that you file this appeal within 30 days of the date of your arrest.  This is something we regularly do for clients charged with DUI. 

DUI per se means that a person operated a motor vehicle upon the roadways of Georgia while having a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.08%.  In other words, Georgia law states that when a driver hast a BAC of at least 0.08%, the judge or jury must presume that the driver was “under the influence” of alcohol.

If a driver has a BAC of between 0.05% and 0.08%, then the judge or jury can, but doesn’t have to, infer that the driver was under the influence of alcohol.  So, even through your BAC is under .08%, as long as it is at least .05%, the jury or judge can presume that you were under the influence to an extent that it was “less safe” to drive.

If a driver has a BAC of less than 0.05%, then the judge or jury must presume that you were NOT under the influence to the extent that it was less safe to drive.  However, the prosecution may still overcome this presumption by a showing of evidence otherwise (for example, by video footage showing a driver who looks really innebriated, even though the BAC was low).

So, in short, it is possible to get a DUI in Georgia, even if your BAC is less than 0.08%.  In those cases, it is crucial that you seek the help of a qualified DUI attorney.

In the State of Georgia, you have the ability to take ownership of property jointly as “Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship” or as “Tenants in Common”. The ownership structure that you choose will determine how your interest will be assigned upon your death. If you and the joint owner of the property elect to take ownership as “Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship”, then the deceased title owner’s share will pass to the surviving owner of record. If you elect to choose “Tenants in Common”, then the ownership interest in the property will pass under the terms of the deceased owner’s Last Will and Testament, or under the laws of intestacy if the deceased owner does not have a Will.

The State of Georgia follows Non-Judicial Foreclosure. When a Lender holds a security interest in your property, they have the ability to initiate foreclosure proceedings upon a violation of a term or condition of the Security Deed. The common phrase “You don’t pay, you don’t stay” does not necessarily encompass the entirety of the terms and conditions of most Security Deeds, as foreclosure can be initiated for not keeping your property in repair, not maintaining the correct homeowner’s insurance, just to name a few. In Georgia, a Lender is able to initiate foreclosure proceedings by following statutory notice guidelines, rather than wait upon a Judicial Proceeding date as many other states require. It is important that you understand the terms and conditions of your Security Deed to understand your rights and responsibilities under the terms of the Agreement. If you are facing foreclosure, it is important to reach out to your Lender to discuss your options going forward.

Often, a seller will still receive a copy of the property tax bill for property they have sold. It is important to note that the tax commissioner will not update online records as conveyances are displayed in the public records, and you may still receive a copy of the bill due to mail forwarding procedures. If you do receive the property tax statement, you should forward that bill to the new owner of record. You can always call the closing attorney if there are any questions.

1.  Upon receipt of a fully executed contract for the Purchase and Sale of Real Property:

2.  You will receive an invitation to connect to our Qualia software program where you will be able to track in real time all updates to the closing process.

For Sellers:

• You will be asked to fill out a form that gives us permission to contact your current lender so that we can get a payoff amount on your current loan, if applicable.
• We will also contact your Homeowner’s Association, if applicable, for a Statement of Membership Dues, as well as any outstanding dues. Outstanding dues must be collected at closing so that there is no balance owed. For regular yearly or monthly dues, that amount will be prorated at closing reflecting the time that you own the home.
• Once the title review is complete, we will notify you of any defects in the chain of title and discuss what is needed in order to cure any title defects.

For Buyers:

• If you are using a Lender to purchase property, it is vitally important that you keep in contact with your lender and provide information requested as soon as possible.