Chapter 28A

(a) A domiciliary personal representative of a nonresident decedent may invoke the jurisdiction of the courts of this State after qualifying as ancillary personal representative in this State except that the domiciliary personal representative may invoke such jurisdiction prior t…

A court of this State having jurisdiction of the subject matter and grounds for personal jurisdiction as provided in G.S. 28A-26-6 may exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant by service of process in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4(j). (1973, c. 1329, …

(a) All assets of estates of nonresident decedents being administered in this State are subject to all claims, allowances and charges existing or established against the estate of the decedent wherever existing or established. (b) An adjudication of a claim rendered in any jurisd…

Unless a testator in a will otherwise directs, any assets (including proceeds from the sale of real estate) remaining after payment of claims against the estate of a nonresident decedent being administered by an ancillary personal representative other than the domiciliary persona…

For the purposes of this Article: (1) "Estate" means the gross estate of a decedent as determined for the purpose of the federal estate tax. (2) "Fiduciary" includes a personal representative and a trustee. (3) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, or in G.S. 28A-27-5, G.S. 28A-27-6, or G.S. 28A-27-8, the tax shall be apportioned among all persons interested in the estate in the proportion that the value of the interest of each person interested in the esta…

(a) The personal representative of a decedent shall determine the apportionment of the tax. (b) If the personal representative finds that it is inequitable to apportion interest and penalties in the manner provided in this Article because such interest or penalties were imposed d…

The personal representative shall not be under any duty to institute any suit or proceeding to recover from any person interested in the estate the amount of the tax apportioned to the person until the expiration of the six months next following final determination of the tax. A …

(a) Any interest for which a deduction or exemption is allowed under the federal revenue laws in determining the value of the decedent's net taxable estate, such as property passing to or in trust for a surviving spouse and gifts or devises for charitable, public, or similar purp…

No interest in income and no estate for years or for life or other temporary interest in any property or fund is subject to apportionment as between the temporary interest and the remainder. The tax on the temporary interest and the tax, if any, on the remainder is chargeable aga…

(a) The personal representative may withhold from any property of the decedent in the personal representative's possession, distributable to any person interested in the estate, the amount of the tax apportioned to the person's interest. If the property in possession of the perso…

If the liabilities of persons interested in the estate as prescribed by this Article differ from those which result under the Federal Estate Tax Law, the liabilities imposed by the federal law will control and the balance of this Article shall apply as if the resulting liabilitie…

The provisions of this Article shall not apply to taxes due on account of the death of decedents dying prior to October 1, 1986. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 878, s. 1.)

When a decedent dies testate or intestate leaving a surviving spouse as the sole devisee or heir, the surviving spouse may file a petition for summary administration with the clerk of superior court of the county where the decedent was domiciled at the time of death. This procedu…

(a) The petition shall be signed by the surviving spouse and verified to be accurate and complete to the best of the spouse's knowledge and belief and shall state all of the following: (1) The name and address of the spouse and the fact that the spouse is the surviving spouse of …

If it appears to the clerk that the petition and supporting evidence, if any, comply with the requirements of G.S. 28A-28-2 and on the basis thereof the spouse is entitled to summary administration, the clerk shall enter an order to that effect and no further administration of th…

(a) The presentation of a certified copy of the order described in G.S. 28A-28-3 shall be sufficient to require the transfer to the spouse of any property or contract right owned by the decedent at the time of death, including but not limited to: (i) wages and salary; (ii) the ti…

The person paying, delivering, transferring, or issuing property or the evidence thereof pursuant to the order described in G.S. 28A-28-3 is discharged and released to the same extent as if the person dealt with a duly qualified personal representative of the decedent. The person…

If the clerk grants the order for summary administration, the spouse shall be deemed to have assumed, to the extent of the value of the property received by the spouse under the will of the decedent or by intestate succession, all liabilities of the decedent that were not dischar…

(a) Nothing in this Article shall preclude any person qualified to serve as personal representative pursuant to G.S. 28A-4-1, including the surviving spouse, from petitioning the clerk of superior court for the appointment of a personal representative or collector to administer t…

When (i) a decedent dies testate or intestate leaving no personal property subject to probate and no real property devised to the personal representative; (ii) a decedent's estate is being administered by collection by affidavit pursuant to Article 25 of this Chapter; (iii) a dec…

(a) The application for appointment as limited personal representative shall be in the form of an affidavit sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, signed by the applicant or the applicant's attorney, which may be supported by other proof under oath in writing,…

A limited personal representative appointed under this Article shall provide notice to all persons, firms, and corporations having claims against the decedent, and proof of such notice shall be in accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of this Chapter. (2009-444, s. 1.)

Upon compliance with G.S. 28A-29-3, creditors of the decedent and the decedent's property shall present claims in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of this Chapter, and creditors failing to file such claims shall be barred as provided in G.S. 28A-19-3. The limited pers…

Nothing in this Article shall preclude any person qualified to serve as personal representative pursuant to G.S. 28A-4-1, including the limited personal representative, from petitioning the clerk of superior court for the appointment of a personal representative to administer the…

Any executor named in a will may, at any time after the death of the testator, apply to the clerk of the superior court, having jurisdiction, to have the will admitted to probate. (C.C.P., s. 439; Code, s. 2151; Rev., s. 3122; 1919, c. 15; C.S., s. 4139; 1921, c. 99; 1923, c. 14;…

(a) No nuncupative will may be probated later than six months from the time it was made unless it was reduced to writing within 10 days after it was made. (b) Before a nuncupative will may be probated (1) Written notice must be given to the surviving spouse, if any, and to the ne…

In addition to the methods already provided in existing statutes therefor, a will executed by a person while in the Armed Forces of the United States or the United States Merchant Marine, shall be admitted to probate (whether there were subscribing witnesses thereto or not, if th…

Such record and probate is conclusive in evidence of the validity of the will, until it is vacated on appeal or declared void by a competent tribunal. Provided, that whenever in a will so probated or recorded a bank or trust company shall be named executor and/or trustee and shal…

(a) All original probated wills shall remain in the office of the clerk of superior court, among the public records of the court where the wills were probated. (b) If a probated will devises real property outside the county where the will was probated, a copy of the will and a co…

All wills which have prior to March 9, 1921, been certified and recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court of any county, substantially following the provisions of G.S. 28A-2A-13, are hereby validated and approved as to the conveyance and transfer of any title to r…

When a will, made by a resident of this State, is proved and allowed in some other state or country, and the original will cannot be removed from its place of legal deposit in such other state or country, for probate in this State, the clerk of the superior court of the county wh…

(a) The examination of witnesses to a will may be taken and subscribed in the form of an affidavit before a notary public or other person who is authorized to administer oaths in the jurisdiction where the examination is held. (b) A photographic copy of the original will certifie…

(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, if the will of a resident or subject of another state or country is probated in accordance with the laws of that jurisdiction and a duly certified copy of the will and the probate proceedings are produced before a c…

In all cases of the probate of any will made prior to March 8, 1899, in common form before any clerk of the superior courts of this State, where the testimony of the subscribing witnesses has been taken in the State or out of it by any commissioner appointed by said clerk or take…

In all cases where any will devises land in this State, and the original will was duly admitted to probate in some other state prior to the year 1860, and a certified copy of such will and the probate thereof has been admitted to probate and record in any county in this State, an…

If no executor applies to have the will proved within 60 days after the death of the testator, any devisee named in the will, or any other person interested in the estate, may make such application, upon 10 days' notice thereof to the executor. For good cause shown, the clerk of …

In all cases where wills and testaments were executed prior to the first day of January, 1875, and which appear as recorded in the record of last wills and testaments to have had two or more witnesses thereto, and such last wills and testaments were admitted to probate and record…

In all cases where last wills and testaments which appear as recorded in the record of last wills and testaments to have had two witnesses thereto and such last wills and testaments were admitted to probate and recorded in the record of wills in the proper county in this State pr…

Whenever any last will and testament has been probated, based upon the examination of the subscribing witness or the subscribing witnesses, taken before a notary public in the county in which the will is probated, or taken before a notary public of any other county, it is hereby …

Whenever any last will and testament has been duly presented to the clerk of the superior court, and the said will together with the oath and examination of the subscribing witness or witnesses thereto taken before a notary public in the county in which the will is probated, or t…

The clerks of the superior court of the State are hereby required and directed to notify by mail, all devisees whose addresses are known, designated in wills filed for probate in their respective counties. All expense incident to such notification shall be deemed a proper charge …

Every clerk of the superior court having jurisdiction, on application by affidavit setting forth the facts, shall, by summons, compel any person in the State, having in possession the last will of any decedent, to exhibit the same in his court for probate; and whoever being duly …

On application to the clerk of the superior court, he must ascertain by affidavit of the applicant - (1) That such applicant is the executor or devisee named in the will, or is some other person interested in the estate, and how so interested. (2) The value and nature of the test…

Every clerk of the superior court shall take in writing the proofs and examinations of the witnesses touching the execution of a will, and he shall embody the substance of such proofs and examinations, in case the will is admitted to probate, in his certificate of the probate the…

(a) A person entitled to apply for probate of a will pursuant to G.S. 28A-2A-1 or G.S. 28A-2A-2 may file a petition for probate of the will in solemn form, and the matter shall proceed as an estate proceeding governed by Article 2 of Chapter 28A of the General Statutes. The clerk…

(a) An attested written will, executed as provided by G.S. 31-3.3, may be probated in any of the following ways: (1) Upon the testimony of at least two of the attesting witnesses. (2) If the testimony of only one attesting witness is available, then with all of the following: a. …

A holographic will may be probated only upon the testimony of at least three competent witnesses that they believe that the will is written entirely in the handwriting of the person whose will it purports to be, and that the name of the testator as written in or on, or subscribed…

(a) Any petitioner who is a resident of North Carolina and who has executed a will or codicil may file a petition seeking a judicial declaration that the will or codicil is valid. (b) The petition shall be filed with the clerk of superior court and the matter shall proceed as a c…

The venue for a petition under G.S. 28A-2B-1 is the county of this State in which the petitioner whose will or codicil is the subject of the petition resides. (2015-205, s. 2; 2017-212, s. 8.2.)