§ 53-6-3 - (Pre-1998 Probate Code) Liability of person wrongfully meddling with or converting personalty of unrepresented estate
O.C.G.A. 53-6-3 (2010)
53-6-3. (Pre-1998 Probate Code) Liability of person wrongfully meddling with or converting personalty of unrepresented estate
If any person, without authority of law, wrongfully intermeddles with or converts to his own use the personalty of a deceased individual whose estate has no legal representative, he shall be held and deemed an executor in his own wrong and as such shall be liable to the creditors and heirs or legatees of the estate for double the value of the property so possessed or converted by him. Such executor shall not be allowed to set off any debt due him by the decedent or voluntarily paid by him out of the assets. If such executor dies, his legal representatives shall be liable in the same manner and to the same extent as would the executor if he were still living.