Houston County Probate Court Records
Houston County Probate Court is located at 201 N. Perry Parkway, P.O. Box 1801, Perry, GA 31069. The court phone number is (478) 218-4710, and the fax number is (478) 218-4715. Judge Kristen Warren Harris serves as Probate Judge, and Kim Willson is listed as Chief Clerk. Office hours are 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday.
The court states that people may come in during office hours for marriage licenses, copies of vital records, and filing documents for estates and guardianships. Weapons carry license applicants must arrive by 4:00 PM. Probate Court is housed in the New Judicial Complex of Houston County, the same Perry Parkway court complex used by several Houston County court offices.
Houston County Probate Court
Judge: Kristen Warren Harris
Chief Clerk: Kim Willson
201 N. Perry Parkway
P.O. Box 1801
Perry, GA 31069
(478) 218-4710
8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday
The official Probate Court page shows the local court contact and e-filing notice: Houston County Probate Court.
That court page is the starting point for local Houston County probate records, filing rules, and Probate Court office contact.
Houston County Probate Terms
Probate records use terms that can be hard to parse when reading estate or protection filings. These plain meanings help separate estate administration from guardianship or conservatorship matters.
- Testator
- A person who made a will.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to carry out the will and handle estate tasks.
- Intestate
- A death without a valid will, which may lead to an administration petition.
- Guardianship
- A court case about personal care or decision-making authority for a minor or adult.
- Conservatorship
- A court case about managing another person's property or finances.
Search Houston County Probate Records
For estate record searches and copies from 2016 to date, Houston County Probate Court directs users to Georgia Probate Records estate search. Older estate records, contested files, discharge questions, guardianship records, conservatorships, mental-health matters, and sensitive filings may require direct Probate Court contact.
- Open the Georgia Probate Records estate search and choose Houston from the county dropdown.
- Search by first name, last name, deceased date range, filed date range, or a mix of those fields.
- If no record appears, broaden the date range, check spelling, or search by only the last name.
- For copies from 2016 to date, follow the estate-search copy path or contact Probate Court.
- For guardianship, conservatorship, mental-health, or restricted matters, call Probate Court before assuming online access is available.
The estate search interface is captured here from the statewide probate record portal: Georgia Probate Records estate search.
The search screen is useful for estate records, but it is not a complete public window into every Houston County probate file.
Houston County Estate Search Fields
The Georgia Probate Records portal gives Houston County estate searchers a small set of name, county, and date filters. Use fewer fields first if spelling or filing date is uncertain.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Options / Format Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| County | Dropdown | Optional but needed locally | Includes Houston and other Georgia counties. |
| First Name | Text | Optional | Deceased or estate search name field. |
| Last Name | Text | Optional | Best starting field when exact dates are unknown. |
| Deceased Start Date | Date picker | Optional | M/d/yyyy format. |
| Deceased End Date | Date picker | Optional | M/d/yyyy format. |
| Filed Start Date | Date picker | Optional | M/d/yyyy format. |
| Filed End Date | Date picker | Optional | M/d/yyyy format. |
Houston County Probate Fees
The Probate Court estate page publishes local estate petition fees and extra costs that can apply when notices, publication, guardian ad litem work, or sheriff service are required. TrueFiling fees and card-processing fees are separate from statutory filing fees.
| GPCSF / Petition | Filing Fee |
|---|---|
| Temporary Administration, GPCSF 2 | $195 |
| Administration, GPCSF 3 | $210 |
| Common Form Will Probate, GPCSF 4 | $210 |
| Solemn Form Will Probate, GPCSF 5 | $210 |
| No Administration Necessary, GPCSF 9 | $210 |
| Year's Support, GPCSF 10 | $210 |
| Will Annexed, GPCSF 7 | $210 |
| Personal Representative Discharge, GPCSF 33 | $195 filing fee, $30 publication, $225 total |
Additional Houston County probate costs include a $120 Houston Home Journal legal ad, plus $10 if an affidavit is requested, a $175 guardian ad litem fee, $50 sheriff service for each Georgia heir, beneficiary, or person not located in Houston County, and a $40 annual return with previous assets for discharge.
The county estate page is the fee source for these Houston County probate records costs: Houston County estate records and fees.
Estate fees can change the total cost of a filing, especially when publication or sheriff service is needed.
File Houston County Probate Records
Houston County Probate Court accepts electronic filing through TrueFiling, a 24/7 web-based filing system for courts, lawyers, and self-represented filers. TrueFiling charges $14.00 per petition or caveat, and the credit-card processor charges 3.25%. The county states that statutory fees remain unchanged.
Probate Court e-filer notices are specific. Submit a death certificate in will probates, administrations, and year's support proceedings. Do not submit the "Court Pages" portion of any petition unless directed, because Houston County Probate Court does not want petitioners completing those pages under the local instruction tied to Uniform Probate Court Rule 5.6(A).
A practical Houston County probate workflow starts with the petition type. Estate filings may require the original will, death certificate, heirs or beneficiaries, publication costs, and service planning. Some cases require notice, caveat deadlines, a hearing, inventory, annual returns, or discharge filings. If a case is contested, the research identifies Kim Willson as the contact for contested estates, while Judith Borum is listed for estate record information and Megan Willson for discharge or estate reporting.
The TrueFiling portal is the e-filing channel named by the court: TrueFiling probate e-filing.
TrueFiling is a filing system, while Georgia Probate Records is the search path for many estate records from 2016 to date.
Houston County Probate Forms
The Probate Court common forms page explains what staff can and cannot do. Staff may explain how the court works, state requirements for a case to be considered, provide information from a case file, provide blank Georgia Probate Court Standard Forms, give general guidance on completing forms, usually answer deadline questions, and define common terms.
Staff cannot give legal advice, decide whether a petition should be filed, tell a person what to do, draft wording, recommend a lawyer, speak to the judge for someone, allow private judge contact outside court, or change an order. The forms page is here: Houston County common probate forms.
Those limits matter for self-represented filers because Probate Court staff can explain process, but they cannot choose legal strategy.
Restricted Houston County Probate Records
Not all Probate Court material is open in the same way as an estate index. Guardianship and conservatorship records may involve protected medical, financial, or minor information. Mental-health proceedings are especially sensitive because Probate Court describes involuntary treatment orders tied to affidavits or doctor certificates and patient rights.
Marriage licenses and some estate indexes are public-facing, but that does not make every probate filing public online. A record seeker may be able to see that an estate exists while still needing Probate Court approval, redaction, or a clerk-assisted copy request for the underlying papers. When the record involves a minor, an adult protection issue, health information, or a judge's restricted order, call the Probate Court before relying on the online estate portal.
Houston County's mental-health Probate Court page gives the official context for that record type: Probate mental health proceedings.
Mental-health filings should be treated as restricted unless Probate Court confirms what may be released.
Houston County Probate Record Contents
Estate records can show the deceased person's name, petition type, filed date, petitioner, heirs or beneficiaries, will status, notices, publications, orders, letters of administration or testamentary authority, inventories, annual returns, and discharge activity. The exact record depends on whether the filing is temporary administration, regular administration, common form probate, solemn form probate, no administration necessary, year's support, will annexed, or personal representative discharge.
Guardianship and conservatorship records have a different purpose. Those filings may address who can make personal decisions, who can manage assets, reports due to the court, and orders that limit or grant authority. Probate Court's form and staff-limit rules are important because the court can give blank forms and process guidance, but staff cannot advise which petition to file or what legal wording to use.
When proof is needed for banks, title work, or another agency, ask whether a plain copy, certified copy, letters, or another court-issued document is required.