## Facts

- Mamie Bell Holloway was an 86-year-old widowed mother of several adult children and was found mentally incapacitated, requiring guardians for her person and property.
- Holloway’s living expenses were met through Social Security benefits and interest from about $320,000 she had invested in certificates of deposit.
- One son obtained a power of attorney over Holloway’s finances, redeemed the CDs, transferred the proceeds to an irrevocable trust, named himself trustee, and invested the funds in a stock-brokerage account.
- Concerned about that son’s financial conduct, two daughters removed Holloway from her home in Cordele to Macon without notifying their brothers.
- The son reported Holloway missing, and law enforcement conducted a frantic search.
- The daughters petitioned for (1) invalidation of the trust, (2) appointment of a guardian for Holloway’s medical and financial needs, and (3) appointment of the daughters as coguardians.
- The trustee son and other sons intervened, also seeking to be appointed guardians.
- The case was transferred to the Superior Court of Crisp County because that was Holloway’s legal residence.
- While the petitions were pending, Holloway was placed in a nursing home, fell, and broke her hip.
- The children could not agree on where Holloway should receive treatment (Cordele or Macon), and an emergency guardian had to be appointed to consent to immediate surgery.
- After hearing evidence, the superior court found none of the children suitable to serve and appointed neutral county officials as guardians for Holloway’s person and property under O.C.G.A. § 29-5-2.
- The daughters appealed the appointment of third-party guardians.

## Issues

1. Whether the superior court erred under O.C.G.A. § 29-5-2 by finding good cause to pass over Holloway’s adult children (who receive a statutory preference) and appoint neutral third parties as guardians.
2. Whether the superior court committed reversible error by relying on O.C.G.A. § 29-4-8 and Kelley v. Kelley in deciding that the daughters (and the other children) were not qualified to serve.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed.
- The court held that O.C.G.A. § 29-5-2 requires the trial court to consider statutory preferences, but it may pass over a preferred person and appoint someone with lower or no preference “for good cause shown.”
- The evidence supported a finding of good cause: the children’s severe distrust and conflict, the secret relocation that triggered a missing-person search, and the inability to agree about urgent hip-fracture care requiring an emergency guardian.
- Any challenged reliance on O.C.G.A. § 29-4-8 or Kelley did not require reversal because the appointment was authorized by O.C.G.A. § 29-5-2 and supported by the record.

## Legal Principles

- Under O.C.G.A. § 29-5-2, adult children are preferred candidates to serve as guardians of an incapacitated adult unless disqualified, but the preference is not absolute.
- A court may bypass a preferred candidate and appoint a lower-preference or no-preference candidate when “good cause” is shown.
- Good cause may be shown by evidence that family conflict prevents objective decisionmaking for the ward, creates a risk of harmful delay in medical decisions, or makes further litigation likely if one family member is appointed over others.
- Appointing a guardian is committed to the trial court’s discretion; an appellate court will not reweigh the evidence and will affirm if there is evidence supporting the trial court’s findings and choice.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeals affirmed the appointment of neutral guardians for Mamie Bell Holloway because the record showed good cause to bypass the statutory preference for adult children: the siblings’ extreme distrust, unilateral actions concerning Holloway’s whereabouts and finances, and their inability to agree on immediate medical treatment demonstrated that none of the children could reliably act as guardian without endangering Holloway’s welfare or triggering further conflict.


In re Holloway, 555 S.E.2d 228 (2001)