Can estate personal property be used to satisfy a surviving spouse’s remaining allowance before the rest of the assets are distributed? – NC Short Answer Yes. Under North Carolina law, the surviving spouse’s year’s allowance is paid first from the estate’s personal property identified by the clerk, and if that personal property is not enough,…
How do I handle estate property when someone is living there without a written lease and has stopped paying rent? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, the estate’s personal representative may be able to take control of estate real property and remove occupants who are living there without a written lease and are no…
What happens if a surviving spouse files a claim against an estate after the creditor notice deadline has passed? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, the answer depends on what kind of claim the surviving spouse files. If the spouse is asserting an ordinary creditor claim after the estate’s creditor notice deadline, the claim…
What is probate and when is it required? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, probate is the court-supervised process of proving a will and, when needed, appointing someone to handle a deceased person’s estate. Probate is usually required when the person owned property in their sole name that cannot pass automatically to someone else.…
If my parent left everything to a surviving spouse, do I still have any right to property or sale proceeds after the surviving spouse dies? – NC Short Answer Usually, no. In North Carolina, if a valid will left all property to the surviving spouse, the children generally do not inherit that property from the…
What happens if property is still in a deceased parent’s name when the surviving spouse’s children try to sell it? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, the surviving spouse’s children usually cannot give clear title to real property that is still in the deceased parent’s name unless the parent’s estate was properly handled first.…
Can a handwritten will be valid if someone else wrote it and the deceased only signed it? – NC Short Answer Usually no, if the will is being offered as a North Carolina holographic will. In North Carolina, a holographic will must be written entirely in the testator’s own handwriting and signed by the testator.…
Should I sign paperwork removing me as executor if I do not understand why it was sent? – NC Short Answer No. Under North Carolina law, a person named as executor does not have to sign papers stepping aside without first understanding what the papers do and how they affect the estate. If the document…
What happens if someone says personal property at a deceased person’s home belongs to them and not the estate? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, personal property found at a deceased person’s home is not automatically estate property just because it is there, but the estate does not have to give it up based…
How do disputes over personal property get resolved during estate administration? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, a dispute over tools, a vehicle, or other personal property during estate administration usually turns on one basic question: did the item belong to the decedent, or did it belong to someone else? The executor must gather…
