Gentry v. Black

Banke, Chief Judge.

At issue in this appeal is whether, pursuant to OCGA §§ 53-5-1 and 53-5-2, a surviving spouse is automatically entitled to receive a year’s support from the estate of his or her deceased spouse, without regard to whether any economic dependency actually existed between them during the deceased’s lifetime.

The appellee, James T. Black, married the decedent, Exa R. Black, in 1973, when he was 61 years old and she 63. The two had recently retired from many years of employment with the same employer, and each was separately entitled to receive both social security and private…