Section 53-7-16. Joint and several liability of personal representative and sureties

   The personal representative and sureties shall be held and deemed joint and several obligors and may be subjected jointly and severally to liability in the same action. When a personal representative removes beyond the limits of this state, dies and leaves an unrepresented estate, or is in such a position that an attachment may be issued as against a debtor, any party in interest or any person having demands against that personal representative in the personal representative's representative capacity may institute an action against the sureties or any one or more of them upon the bond of the personal representative in the first instance, without first obtaining a judgment against the personal representative in that person's representative capacity. No prior judgment establishing the liability of the personal representative or a devastavit by the personal representative shall be necessary before an action is brought against the sureties on the bond.

Code 1981, § 53-7-16, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10.