Loopholes in Georgia’s intestate laws made it possible for a thief to steal an inheritance and home from the relatives of a man who died nearly two years ago.
Now, the family of metro Atlanta man Evans Lee Jr. is calling for the prosecution of a man unrelated to their loved one who laid claim to Lee’s assets shortly after his death.
According to reporting by Atlanta News First, Lee died on Oct. 26, 2022. He left no will. Days later, 48-year-old Randy Watson filed a probate court petition claiming to be the “only son” and “heir” of all property left behind by Lee.
Georgia’s intestate succession laws dictate that if a person dies without a will, that person’s property goes to the closest living relative. However, surviving family members must request to become an administrator and be appointed by a probate court to manage that person’s estate.
What makes it possible for thieves to steal estate rights is that Georgia’s probate courts don’t require petitioners to provide proof or documentation that they are the rightful heirs to the estate of a person who died without a will.
That technicality granted Watson executorship of Lee’s estate, and he was appointed administrator in December 2022.
Watson even went to the funeral home that handled Lee’s body and had the funeral directors list incorrect details on Lee’s death certificate that wrongly documented Lee’s birth home, wrote his father as “unknown,” and listed Watson as “decedent’s son.”
“Ain’t no way in the world you can just let anybody come in your establishment and say, ‘Hey, I am the next of kin’ without even checking they’re background and seeing if it’s true,” Lee’s nephew Trahan Brown argued.
Georgia funeral homes also aren’t required by law to get documentation proving someone is next of kin. State code dictates that a person must be 18 years or older and of sound mind to implement the final disposition of a deceased human being, according to the Georgia Funeral Directors Association. In Watson’s case, someone went with him to the funeral home and vouched that he was Lee’s relative, according to Atlanta News First.
After Watson became estate administrator, Brown was granted a court-ordered paternity test that confirmed that Watson was not Lee’s biological son. Lee never had children. During a probate hearing, Watson claimed that he first met Lee as a teenager and lived with Lee for some time.
A judge later reversed Watson’s executorship, siding with Brown and his family that Watson had no rights to Lee’s assets.
However, that win in court couldn’t reverse what had been done with Lee’s property.
His Lithonia home in suburban Atlanta was foreclosed on and auctioned off. Most of his remaining belongings were also gone, including the urn containing his ashes. Brown revealed that his uncle wished to be buried next to his wife, not cremated.
Watson claimed to police that the items had been stolen in an alleged robbery. However, receipt records obtained by ANF show that a disposal company was hired twice to remove at least 60,000 pounds worth of items from Lee’s home.
“There was never an opportunity to go in the home, clean the home, none of that,” Brown’s wife Renee said. “[The house] was cleared out.”
Authorities have opened an investigation into Watson, and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office has tapped the state’s licensing board to investigate the funeral home.
According to the Georgia Probate Firm, anyone who engages in inheritance theft may face civil or criminal charges.
Attorneys recommend families choose official administrators as soon as possible in the event a loved one has died without a will. If an unknown person somehow becomes appointed as an estate administrator, family members can send a letter demanding a full account of the estate or file a request in probate court.
