When a man died intestate (without a will), his widow and surviving son entered into an agreement to divide the net estate, and they each took distributions of $30,000. The widow then filed a petition for a year’s support of $60,000 plus other assets worth $24,000. Following a hearing, the probate court awarded her a year’s support of $30,000 plus title to a car and antique furniture. She appealed, and the Superior Court found that the widow and the son had entered into an agreement to share equally in the estate assets and had acted on that agreement by accepting $30,000 each, so the court declined to award any additional money as a year’s support.

The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld that ruling. While a person need only establish that he or she is the spouse of a decedent to be eligible for a year’s support, determining the amount of the award is a separate inquiry. The award must be reasonably related to the amount needed by the surviving spouse to maintain the standard of living enjoyed prior to the death. Here, since the widow presented no evidence of the income or expenses during the marriage, there was no evidence of her married standard of living, and the court was justified in not awarding any additional amount as year’s support. Additionally, although the widow said she was unaware of her right to year’s support when she entered into the agreement with the son, she was represented by counsel at that time, so the court had the power to enforce the agreement and reject her testimony as lacking credibility.288 Ga. App. 334 (2007)