Can I recover my legal fees or costs from the other owner if they drag out the case? – North Carolina Short Answer Usually, each side pays their own lawyer in a North Carolina partition case. However, the Clerk of Superior Court can tax “costs of the proceeding” (filing fees, service, commissioner, appraisal, survey, publication,…
How do I schedule a hearing for a partition action in this court? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, partition actions are special proceedings heard by the Clerk of Superior Court. After serving the petition and special proceeding summons and allowing the 10-day answer period to run, a party may contact the calendar…
Can I choose any date and time for my partition hearing or does the court set specific availability? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina partition cases, the Clerk of Superior Court controls the hearing calendar. A party may request a date, but the clerk sets hearings on the office’s available days and times…
What information do I need to give the clerk to reserve a partition hearing date? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, the Clerk of Superior Court typically calendars a partition hearing after all respondents are served and the answer period has passed. To reserve a date, provide the file number and case caption,…
How is each co-owner’s equity interest calculated when one has paid more toward the mortgage? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina partition matters, start with each owner’s deeded share, then calculate net equity (fair market value minus liens and sale costs) and adjust for contributions and benefits. A co-owner who paid mortgage principal,…
Can I pay overdue property taxes for the heirs and secure the land purchase? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, paying someone else’s delinquent property taxes does not create ownership or a lien by itself. Title to an intestate owner’s land vests in the heirs, and a valid sale typically happens either by…
How does intestate succession work for predeceased heirs’ children? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, when someone dies without a will, the share that a deceased child would have received passes to that child’s descendants by representation (often called per stirpes). Each “branch” gets the deceased child’s share, split equally among descendants of…
How can I clear title to buy land still held in a deceased owner’s name? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, title to a deceased person’s real estate vests in the heirs or devisees at death. To deliver clear title for a sale, one of three paths usually works: (1) open an estate…
What options exist for challenging a lifetime rights note on the deed? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a “lifetime rights” note usually means a life estate or right to occupy. It can be cleared if the life tenant has died (by recording proof of death), limited or interpreted by a court through…
What legal steps are needed to transfer or sell property when a life estate remains in effect? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, fee simple title cannot be conveyed unless the life tenant and all remaindermen join the deed, or a court authorizes a sale free of the life estate. A remainderman may…