Chapter 31

Any person of sound mind, and 18 years of age or over, may make a will. (1811, c. 280; R.C., c. 119, s. 2; Code, s. 2137; Rev., s. 3111; C.S., s. 4128; 1953, c. 1098, s. 1; 1965, c. 303; 1969, c. 39.)

(a) A witness to an attested written or a nuncupative will, to whom or to whose spouse a beneficial interest in property, or a power of appointment with respect thereto, is given by the will, is nevertheless a competent witness to the will and is competent to prove the execution …

A corporation named as a trustee in a will is not disqualified to act as trustee by reason of the fact that a person owning stock in the corporation signed the will as a witness. (1949, c. 44.)

(a) The clerk of the superior court in each county of North Carolina is required to keep a receptacle or depository in which any testator who desires to do so may deposit that testator's original paper will for safekeeping. The clerk is only authorized to receive the will from th…

(a) Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state where execution occurs and evidenced by t…

No will is valid unless it complies with the requirements of this Chapter. (1953, c. 1098, s. 2; 2025-33, s. 8.5.)

(a) Personal property and real property may be devised byany of the following: (1) An attested written will that complies with the requirements of G.S. 31-3.3. (2) A holographic will that complies with the requirements of G.S. 31-3.4. (3) A certified paper copy of an attested wri…

(a) An attested written will is a written will signed by the testator and attested by at least two competent witnesses as provided by this section. (b) The testator must, with intent to sign the will, do so by actually signing the will or by having someone else in the testator's …

(a) A holographic will is a will that meets all of the following requirements: (1) Written entirely in the handwriting of the testator but when all the words appearing on a paper in the handwriting of the testator are sufficient to constitute a valid holographic will, the fact th…

A nuncupative will is a will (1) Made orally by a person who is in that person's last sickness or in imminent peril of death and who does not survive such sickness or imminent peril, and (2) Declared to be that person's will before two competent witnesses simultaneously present a…

A seal is not necessary to the validity of a will. (1953, c. 1098, s. 2.)

(a) At the time of application for probate of any will, and the probate thereof in common form, or at any time within three years thereafter, any party interested in the estate, may appear in person or by attorney before the clerk of the superior court and enter a caveat to the p…

(a) Upon the filing of a caveat, the clerk shall transfer the cause to the superior court for trial by jury. The caveat shall be served upon all interested parties in accordance with G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. (b) After service under subsection (a) of this…

Whenever the subscribing witness to any will shall die, or be mentally incompetent, or be absent beyond the State, it shall be competent upon any issue of devisavit vel non to give in evidence the affidavits and proofs taken by the clerk upon admitting the will to probate in comm…

(a) Order of Clerk. - Where a caveat is filed, the clerk of the superior court shall forthwith issue an order that shall apply during the pendency of the caveat to any personal representative, having the estate in charge, as follows: (1) Distributions to beneficiaries. - That the…

(a) Prior to an entry of judgment by the superior court in a caveat proceeding, the parties may enter into a settlement agreement, which must be approved by the superior court. Upon approval of a settlement agreement, the court shall enter judgment, without a verdict by a jury, i…

When real estate shall be devised to any person, the same shall be held and construed to be a devise in fee simple, unless such devise shall, in plain and express words, show, or it shall be plainly intended by the will, or some part thereof, that the testator intended to convey …

(a) A duly probated will is effective to pass title to real and personal property. (b) A will is not effective to pass title to real or personal property as against lien creditors or purchasers for valuable consideration from the intestate heirs at law of a decedent, unless the w…

Any testator, by the testator's a will duly executed, may devise or dispose of all real and personal property which the testator shall be entitled to at the time of the testator's death, and which, if not so devised or disposed of, would descend or devolve upon the testator's hei…

Every will shall be construed, with reference to the real and personal estate comprised therein, to speak and take effect as if it had been executed immediately before the death of the testator, unless a contrary intention shall appear by the will. (1844, c. 88, s. 3; R.C., c. 11…

(a) Unless the will indicates a contrary intent, if a devisee predeceases the testator, whether before or after the execution of the will, and if the devisee is a grandparent of or a descendant of a grandparent of the testator, then the issue of the predeceased devisee shall take…

A will is valid if it meets the requirements of the applicable provisions of law in effect in this State either at the time of its execution or at the time of the death of the testator, or if any of the following apply: (1) The will's execution complied with the law of the jurisd…

(a) Purpose. - The federal estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax expired January 1, 2010, for one year. To carry out the intent of decedents in the construction of wills and trusts and to promote judicial economy in the administration of trusts and estates, this section…

(a) A will may validly devise property to: (1) The trustee of a trust established before the testator's death by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person, including a trust authorized by G.S. 36C-4-401.1; or (2) The trustee of a trust to be est…

A written will, or any part thereof, may be revoked only (1) By a subsequent written will or codicil or other revocatory writing executed in the manner provided herein for the execution of written wills, or (2) By being burnt, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed, with the i…

A nuncupative will or any part thereof may be revoked (1) By a subsequent nuncupative will, or (2) By a subsequent written will or codicil or other revocatory writing executed in the manner provided herein for the execution of written wills. (1953, c. 1098, s. 4.)

A will is not revoked by a subsequent marriage of the maker; and the surviving spouse may petition for an elective share when there is a will made prior to the marriage in the same manner, upon the same conditions, and to the same extent, as a surviving spouse may petition for an…

(a) Unless a contrary intent is expressly indicated in the will, if the testator's marriage is dissolved by absolute divorce or annulment after the execution of a will, then the testator's former spouse shall be deemed to have predeceased the testator for all purposes related to …

(a) A will shall not be revoked by the subsequent birth of a child to the testator, or by the subsequent adoption of a child by the testator, or by the subsequent entitlement of an after-born child born out of wedlock to take as an heir of the testator pursuant to the provisions …

No conveyance or other act made or done subsequently to the execution of a will of, or relating to, any real or personal estate therein comprised, except an act by which such will shall be duly revoked, shall prevent the operation of the will with respect to any estate or interes…

No will can be revoked in whole or in part by any act of the testator or by a change in the testator's circumstances or condition except as provided by G.S. 31-5.1 through 31-5.6 inclusive. (1953, c. 1098, s. 9; 2011-344, s. 8.)

No will or any part thereof that has been in any manner revoked can, except as provided in G.S. 31-5.4, be revived otherwise than by a reexecution thereof, or by the execution of another will in which the revoked will or part thereof is incorporated by reference. (1953, c. 1098, …

A writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. (2007-184, s. 2.)

A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events that have significance apart from their effect upon the disposition made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator's death. These acts and events may inc…

The court may reform the terms of a will, if the terms of the will are ambiguous, to conform the terms to the testator's intent if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence what the testator's intent was and that the terms of the will were affected by a mistake of fact or law…

To achieve a testator's tax objectives, the court may modify the terms of a will in a manner that is not contrary to the testator's probable intent. The court may provide that the modification has retroactive effect. (2017-152, s. 1.)

(a) An action for reformation or modification of a will shall be filed in the superior court division of the General Court of Justice under Article 26 of Chapter 1 of the General Statutes. (b) The personal representative is a necessary party to an action for reformation or modifi…

In this Article, the following definitions apply: (1) Electronic. - Relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. (2) Record. - Information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an e…

(a) At any time during the life of the testator, an attorney licensed to practice law in North Carolina may, at the testator's direction, create an electronic record of the testator's attested written will. The electronic record shall include a certification, signed by that attor…

(a) An attorney licensed in this State may create a certified paper copy of an attested written will that has been stored as an electronic record in accordance with the requirements of G.S. 31-72 by certifying that the paper copy is a complete, true, and accurate copy of that ele…

Any person competent to be a witness generally in this State may act as a witness to a will. (1953, c. 1098, s. 15.)

No person, on account of being an executor of a will, shall be incompetent to be admitted a witness to prove the execution of such will, or to prove the validity or invalidity thereof. (R.C., c. 119, s. 9; Code, s. 2146; Rev., s. 3119; C.S., s. 4137.)