How do I apply to be appointed administrator of my parent’s estate when they died without a will? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, you apply with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where your parent lived, using the Application for Letters of Administration. Children are among the first in line…
What steps are involved in publishing a notice to creditors and how long is the waiting period before selling estate property? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, after you qualify as personal representative, you must publish a notice to creditors once a week for four consecutive weeks and mail notice to known or…
Can I sell my late parent’s home as administrator and use the proceeds to pay the mortgage and debts? – North Carolina Short Answer Yes. In North Carolina, a court‑appointed administrator can sell a decedent’s real estate to raise money to pay valid estate debts if personal property is not enough. Because your parent died…
What rights do I have to estate assets if my sibling isn’t accounting for shared property documents? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, when a parent dies without a will, title to their non-survivorship real estate vests immediately in the heirs as tenants in common. Your sibling cannot unilaterally retitle the home to…
How do I demand a buyout of my share if my co-heir refuses to negotiate? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, you can trigger a buyout by filing a partition special proceeding with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the property sits. Because this is an “heirs property,” the court…
What steps do I need to open probate when my parent died intestate and I’m left out of the process? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, any heir can start an intestate estate by filing an application for letters of administration with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the parent…
Can my sibling legally assume the mortgage and retitle co-owned property without my consent? – North Carolina Short Answer No. In North Carolina, when someone dies without a will, title to their real estate passes immediately to the heirs as co-owners. One heir cannot unilaterally transfer, retitle, or encumber the other heir’s share. Assuming the…
What steps should I take if assets are co-owned by heirs but not formally included in the estate? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, real estate usually passes directly to heirs at death and is not part of the probate estate unless the personal representative obtains legal authority over it. If estate funds…
What is the proper way to document a personal representative’s reimbursement or distribution of estate expenses? – North Carolina Short Answer List the transaction on the Annual Account (AOC-E-506), attach vouchers (e.g., bank statements, canceled checks, tax bill marked paid), and show how you corrected it. Under North Carolina law, you can either reimburse the…
Can I use estate funds to pay property taxes on a decedent’s home that passed directly to heirs? – North Carolina Short Answer Generally, no. In North Carolina, title to a decedent’s real property passes directly to the heirs or devisees at death, so post‑death expenses like property taxes are usually their responsibility, not the…
