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Georgia · Southwest Georgia · #651
Clay County, Georgia
On the Chattahoochee River bluffs of southwest Georgia, Fort Gaines overlooks Walter F. George Lake - the reservoir where Georgia and Alabama share one of the Deep South's finest bass fishing lakes - in a small county that has maintained its character on the river plain for nearly two centuries.
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Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Clay County Sheriff’s Office – Fort Gaines, GA 31751; confirm current sheriff and phone via claycountyga.org.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-39 serves Fort Gaines, the county seat and largest city, on the Chattahoochee River bordering Alabama.
Notes: Clay County was created by Act of the Legislature on February 16, 1854, from parts of Early and Randolph Counties, named for statesman Henry Clay, who died in 1852. Fort Gaines itself dates to 1816, established around a military outpost built at the direction of General Andrew Jackson to protect settlers during the Creek Indian Wars; the fort was named for General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, a frontier officer who – genuinely notably – had earlier arrested Aaron Burr on treason charges. A predecessor fort structure existed nearby as early as 1814. The site later served as a Confederate fort in 1863. Fort Gaines carries the motto “A historic past – A promising future.”
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Clay County Courthouse – off GA-37, Fort Gaines, GA (built circa 1871, Carpenter style with Classic details; National Register of Historic Places since 1980), a two-story hipped-roof brick building often noted for resembling an antebellum plantation house more than a typical courthouse.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Clay County Veterans Services – confirm current contact via claycountyga.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Clay County Public Library (Fort Gaines) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Walter F. George Lock and Dam, completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1963 and home to the second-highest lock east of the Mississippi River, created Lake George, a 45,180-acre reservoir used for fishing and boating; George T. Bagby State Park and Lodge sits on the lake a few miles north of Fort Gaines. Fort Gaines was historically known as the “Queen City of the Chattahoochee” for its role as a hub of river commerce before the 1850s arrival of the railroad. A local legend tells of Mrs. Stuart, captured during a Creek raid that killed her husband, who secretly gathered and hid discarded paper money in her petticoats during captivity, emerging wealthy upon her rescue and later marrying General John Dill, whose elegant house in Fort Gaines still stands today.
Notes: The Fort Gaines area is home to a genuinely unusually rich variety of native plant life.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Clay County Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via claycountyga.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via claycountyga.org; Clay County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Clay County Solid Waste / Planning & Zoning – confirm current contact via claycountyga.org.
NOTES: Clay County is the thirtieth county completed in Georgia’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine historical connection between Fort Gaines’s namesake and the arrest of Aaron Burr, alongside the colorful local legend of Mrs. Stuart, are among the standout local facts covered in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Clay County
Clay County sits on the high bluffs above the Chattahoochee River, and the view from Fort Gaines across the river to Alabama is one of the more dramatic in southwest Georgia – the river gorge here is genuine, not the flat bottomland that characterizes most of the Chattahoochee’s lower reaches. Walter F. George Lake (also known as Lake Eufaula), the reservoir upstream from Fort Gaines, is renowned for largemouth bass fishing and draws anglers from across the region. The Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge on the Alabama side of the lake provides waterfowl habitat of regional significance.
Clay County is a small farming and timber community whose economy is agriculture – peanuts, timber, cattle – supplemented by fishing tourism from the lake. Fort Gaines has a preserved antebellum downtown and a historic character reflecting its nineteenth-century river trade significance.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Georgia assesses property at 40% of fair market value. Property owners have 45 days from the notice of assessment to appeal. Georgia has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
Clay County Probate Court: 210 South Washington Street, Fort Gaines, GA 39851 | (229) 768-2631.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT (Records, Marriage Licenses)
210 S. Webster St., Fort Gaines, GA 39851
(229) 768-2631
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Probate Court of Clay County (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society (Albany) is a useful regional resource for Clay County research.
No dedicated Clay-County-only genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Probate Court of Clay County 210 S. Washington Street, Fort Gaines, GA 39851 Judge: Hon. Melessa Shivers. Clay County is one of Georgia’s least populous counties.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Georgia is NOT a Uniform Probate Code state and doesn’t use a simple dollar-threshold “small estate affidavit” like many states. Instead it offers several distinct shortcuts, each suited to a different situation:
Banking Affidavit – for intestate estates with less than $15,000 in bank deposits and no other assets requiring administration. No court filing needed at all.
No Administration Necessary (Standard Form 9) – available when all heirs agree on how to divide the property and there are no debts (or all creditors consent). Can transfer real estate without full administration, but requires unanimous heir agreement – any disagreement forces the estate into formal probate.
Year’s Support (Standard Form 10, O.C.G.A. Chapter 53-3) – a distinctively Georgia protection: the surviving spouse and minor children can petition for property sufficient to maintain their standard of living for 12 months from the date of death. This takes priority over virtually all creditor claims and even most specific bequests in the will. Must be filed within 24 months of death. No bond, no inventory filing, no creditor claims period required – the fastest and simplest path when it applies.
Formal Administration – Petition to Probate Will (Common Form or Solemn Form) or Petition for Letters of Administration, when none of the above shortcuts fit.
COMMON FORM VS. SOLEMN FORM (a distinctively Georgia choice)
Common Form: the executor files the will with supporting evidence and the court admits it without notifying all heirs – faster and cheaper, but leaves a 4-year window during which interested parties can challenge the will.
Solemn Form (Standard Form 5): requires notice to all heirs; once granted, it’s final and binding much sooner, closing off future challenges.
If formal administration is needed
File the appropriate petition with the Clay County Probate Court – Petition to Probate Will (Common or Solemn Form) if there’s a will, or Petition for Letters of Administration if not.
The court issues a citation, published in the county’s legal organ once a week for four weeks (O.C.G.A. § 53-5-2), giving interested parties a chance to object.
After the publication period, attend the hearing for appointment as personal representative.
Once appointed, the court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one).
Send certified copies of the death certificate and Letters to all banks, brokerages, insurers, and retirement custodians; request date-of-death valuations and begin marshaling assets.
Obtain an EIN via IRS Form SS-4 and open an estate checking account.
Prepare an inventory of assets with date-of-death fair market values; the court may require this under O.C.G.A. § 53-7-30.
Pay debts and expenses in Georgia’s priority order (see below), then distribute remaining assets per the will or intestacy law.
What it costs
No Georgia state estate tax or inheritance tax.
Court filing fees typically range $100–$300 depending on the county.
Certified copies of Letters typically cost around $10 each.
Indigent petitioners may file an Affidavit of Indigency to request a fee waiver.
E-filing is available and encouraged statewide through platforms like PeachCourt or Odyssey eFileGA.
DEBT PRIORITY ORDER IF THE ESTATE CAN’T PAY EVERYTHING (O.C.G.A. §§ 53-3-1, 53-7-40)
Year’s Support for surviving spouse and minor children under 18.
Funeral expenses.
Costs of probate administration.
Expenses of the decedent’s last illness.
Taxes.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
210 S. Webster St., Fort Gaines, GA 39851
(229) 768-2535
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS / VOTER REGISTRATION
210 S. Webster St., Fort Gaines, GA 39851
(229) 768-2631
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
GA Dept of Public Health — Southwest
(229) 768-3333
GA DFCS — Clay
(229) 768-2524
GA Medicaid
(800) 869-1150
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (Albany)
phoebeputney.com
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Clay County Health Department – confirm current contact via claycountyga.org.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Fort Gaines
Population: 2,800
Area: 196 sq mi
Established: 1854
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Clay County facilities via Amazon.
