How the Pandemic Changed Probate and What Your Clients Should Do About It | The COVID19 pandemic changed so much in our lives. It even changed the experience of “going through probate” in Georgia. Mark will discuss why we have the probate court system and who it protects, as well as who is unduly burdened by the system. Mark will answer the questions: (1) Is Georgia still a “probate friendly” state after the pandemic; (2) What options are available for your clients to avoid probate and (3) What is on the horizon for the probate court system in Georgia?

Mark Brandenburg has 20 years of experience in estate planning, estate administration, and probate law. He graduated from Emory Law School in 2005 as a member of the Moot Court Team, as the recipient of the Arthur K. Bolton Best Brief award and having earned membership in the Order of Emory Advocates for demonstrating excellence and high honor through the art of advocacy and persuasion.  Mark began his legal career as the law clerk and staff attorney to Judge Jeryl Rosh of the Probate Court of DeKalb County.  Learning from one of the most experienced judges in the Georgia probate court system, he developed an expertise in probate procedure, guardianship, conservatorship, and estate matters.  In 2010, Mark joined a boutique estate planning, business, and tax law firm in Sandy Springs. Four years later, he moved his practice to Midtown Atlanta to join one of the region's premier estate planning and estate administration law firms and made Partner there in 2018. Mark established his own law firm in 2019.

Mark is a member of the Georgia Bar Association's Fiduciary Law Section, the Atlanta Bar Association's Estate Planning and Probate Section, and the exclusive Atlanta Estate Planning Council.  He is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Georgia, Superior Courts and Probate Courts of Georgia, and the United States Tax Court.

Mark is exceptionally strong in creative problem solving and bringing complex estate issues to a successful resolution.   He was a Georgia registered mediator early in his legal career, has received training in collaborative dispute resolution and participated in hundreds of mediations and hearings.  Mark has also completed a two-day training course on family business dynamics taught by the Cox Family Enterprise Center at the KSU Coles College of Business.

Mark was listed as a Rising Star in the Georgia Super Lawyers Magazine for the years 2013 through 2016, an honor granted to no more than 2.5% of the attorneys in Georgia.  In 2023, the same magazine selected him to be listed as a Super Lawyer among the most accomplished estate planning attorneys in Georgia for the fourth year in a row. Mark’s peers selected him to be one of Georgia’s Legal Elite in the field of trusts and estates from 2019 through 2022.

Mark is a graduate of the Westminster Schools, and lives with his wife and three children in Buckhead.