What Probate Covers in Forsyth County
Forsyth County Probate Court handles estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, marriage licenses, firearms applications, birth certificates, death certificates, and passports. It is located at 100 West Courthouse Square, Suite 008, Cumming, GA 30040, near the main courthouse campus but separate from the Clerk's Superior and State Court case files.
The Probate Court landing page is shown in the image captured from the Forsyth County Probate Court page.
That Probate Court source is the local reference point for the office's estate, guardianship, marriage, vital-record, weapons-carry, and passport functions.
Divorce records are not Probate Court files in Forsyth County. Divorce is a Superior Court civil and domestic case type maintained by the Clerk of Superior, State and Juvenile Courts. Marriage licenses and marriage certificate copy requests, however, overlap with Probate Court and should be routed through Probate rather than the Superior Court civil division.
Probate Terms Defined
Probate records use terms that describe the status of the estate, the person asking the court to act, and the fiduciary appointed by the court. These definitions help distinguish estate filings from guardianship and conservatorship matters.
- Testator
- A person who made a will.
- Decedent
- The person whose estate is being administered after death.
- Executor
- A person named in a will to carry out estate duties after appointment.
- Administrator
- A person appointed when an estate needs administration and there is no appointed executor serving.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will controlling the estate.
- Year's Support
- A probate filing seeking support for a surviving spouse or minor children from the estate.
- Guardianship
- A court-supervised role involving personal care or status decisions for a minor or adult.
- Conservatorship
- A court-supervised role involving management of a minor's or adult ward's property or financial affairs.
How to Search Forsyth County Probate Court
Probate records do not follow the same route as Superior and State Court cases on re:SearchGA. For estate, guardianship, conservatorship, marriage, vital-record, weapons-carry, or passport matters, start with Forsyth County Probate Court. Older or non-online probate records should be requested from Probate Court directly rather than from the Clerk's Superior and State Court copy process.
Estate resources are shown in the image captured from the Forsyth County Probate estates page.
The estates page is the right local route when the matter involves a will, administration, no administration necessary, year's support, leave to sell, discharge, claims, inventories, or returns.
- Identify whether the matter is an estate, guardianship, conservatorship, marriage or vital record, weapons carry, or passport issue.
- Use the Probate Court page or Forms & Fees page to identify the current form category.
- Download current standard forms from gaprobate.gov when Probate Court directs users there.
- Confirm filing fees because service, publication, court-appointed attorney, and evaluator fees may be extra.
- File with Forsyth County Probate Court and follow any citation, notice, hearing, inventory, annual return, or final return requirement.
Probate Court Contact
Forsyth County has one county Probate Court for the probate functions described in the research. Judge Daisy Weeks-Marisko appears in county Probate Court wedding news, but users should rely on the current Probate Court office page for operational instructions, current forms, and filing requirements.
Forsyth County Probate Court
100 West Courthouse Square, Suite 008
Cumming, GA 30040
probatevital@forsythco.com
Marriage certificate copy requests by form, in person, or email
Probate Filing Fees
The Probate Court Forms & Fees page gives common filing fees, but the research warns that service, publication, court-appointed attorney, and evaluator fees may not be included. Confirm the total before filing, especially for guardianship, conservatorship, contested estate, or publication matters.
The local forms and fees source is shown in the image captured from the Probate Court forms and fees page.
That page is important because probate fee amounts and required forms depend on the exact petition.
| Filing | Fee |
|---|---|
| Petition for Temporary Letters of Administration | $190 |
| Petition for Letters of Administration | $205 |
| Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form | $205 |
| Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form and for Letters of Administration with Will Annexed | $205 |
| Petition for Order Declaring No Administration Necessary | $205 |
| Petition for Year's Support | $205 |
| Petition of Personal Representative for Leave to Sell Property | $190 |
| Petition for Discharge | $190 |
| Caveat, objection, or response by person served notice or citation | $75 |
| Inventory, Annual Return, or Final Return with assets listed | $40 |
| Inventory, Annual Return, or Final Return with no assets listed anywhere | No fee |
| Temporary Letters of Guardianship of Minor | $140 |
| Letters of Guardianship of Minor | $205 |
| Letters of Conservatorship of Minor | $205 |
What Forsyth County Probate Court Records Show
Probate records can include wills, petitions, temporary or permanent administration filings, solemn form probate, no-administration-necessary orders, year's support filings, leave-to-sell requests, discharges, claims by creditors, inventories, annual returns, final returns, guardianship filings, conservatorship filings, and related orders. Marriage certificate request forms and marriage counseling forms also appear in Probate Court's forms list because marriage licensing is part of Probate Court's local role.
Guardianship resources are shown in the image captured from the Forsyth County Probate guardianship page.
Guardianship and conservatorship records can involve adults or minors, so access can be narrower than ordinary estate filings.
Use Current Probate Forms
Forsyth Probate says standard probate forms change each year to comply with new code provisions and administrative changes. The newer version should be used because outdated forms may not reflect current law. Probate Court directs users to the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia at gaprobate.gov for all Probate Court Standard Forms.
The statewide probate form source is shown in the image captured from the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia forms site.
Using the state form source helps avoid filing a stale version of an estate, guardianship, conservatorship, inventory, return, or notice form.
Marriage and Vital Records in Probate
Marriage licenses, marriage certificate requests, birth certificate requests, and death certificate requests overlap with Probate Court in Forsyth County. Marriage applicants complete the online application, appear with photo ID and confirmation number, and pay the $56 fee unless a premarital counseling form reduces it to $16. Marriage certificate copies can be requested by form in person at Probate Court or by email at probatevital@forsythco.com with payment over the phone.
The county's wedding news is shown in the image captured from the Probate Court free wedding ceremonies announcement.
Those special wedding events do not change the ordinary records route: marriage licensing and marriage certificate copies remain Probate Court functions.
Restricted Probate Court Records
Not every Probate Court matter is open in the same way. Restricted categories in the research include juvenile records, sealed court files, adoption records, mental-health proceedings, criminal-history information restricted under O.C.G.A. 35-3-37, and records with protected identifiers such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, minor names, or victim identifying data. Guardianship, conservatorship, minor-related, mental-health, and sealed filings may require party status, attorney access, redaction, or a court order.
Older probate records and non-online materials should be requested from Probate Court directly. The Clerk's Superior and State Court case search is not the right route for estate files, marriage certificate requests, birth and death certificate requests, or Probate Court guardianship records.