Probate in North Carolina: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will
North Carolina sends most estates through probate court, but it can be avoided in special cases. Anytime a person dies without a will, this is referred to as intestate succession. An estate will go through probate in North Carolina if there is no will, with a few exceptions.
If you want to avoid probate altogether, consider one of the following.
- Assign a beneficiary for your life insurance policies and retirement accounts.
- Put a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation on your bank and brokerage accounts.
- Set up property to be owned jointly with right of survivorship.
If none of these apply, an estate without a will is subject to probate in North Carolina. If the personal property is valued at $20,000 or less ($30,000 or less if a surviving spouse is the sole heir), and 30 days have passed since the death, you can use a small estate affidavit instead of full administration, an option that can significantly speed up the process.
Succession Laws Without a Will in North Carolina
North Carolina's approach to property ownership shapes everything that follows intestate succession. North Carolina is a common law property state, meaning that ownership transfers to the person named on the title, deed, or account. North Carolina has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code and it treats real property and personal property differently under its intestacy statute.
If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following guidelines.
- If you have one child (or that child's descendants), your spouse inherits a 1/2 undivided interest in your real property, plus the first $60,000 of your personal property and 1/2 of the remaining balance. Your child inherits the rest.
- If you have two or more children, your spouse inherits a 1/3 undivided interest in your real property, plus the first $60,000 of your personal property and 1/3 of the remaining balance. Your children divide the rest.
- If you have no children but living parents, your spouse inherits the first $100,000 of your personal property, plus 1/2 of the balance and 1/2 of your real property. Your parents inherit what remains of the estate.
- If you have no children and no living parents, your spouse inherits everything.
- If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.
North Carolina Probate Process
North Carolina probate is handled by the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the deceased lived at the time of their death. Aside from full administration, North Carolina offers Summary Administration, an abbreviated process available only when a surviving spouse is the sole heir. In North Carolina, there is no state estate or inheritance tax.
Avoiding Probate in North Carolina
A long probate process is avoidable for most of an estate. Here's how.\ you can accomplish that.
- Put your assets in a revocable living trust, which grants have full control over your estate, overseeing it as the trustee. In the trust, you identify a successor trustee who will manage distributing your assets after your death.
- Name beneficiary designations on financial and retirement accounts, using a payable-on-death (POD) designation will specify who receives payment at the time of your death or a transfer-on-death (TOD) designation names a new owner for those accounts.
- Set up joint ownership with right of survivorship, to give your spouse or a separate co-owner automatic ownership of any joint property.
Want to learn more about trusts in North Carolina? Find out what is needed to put together a valid trust.
