What can I do if a relative is living in the deceased person’s house and will not share information about the estate? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, the main step is to check with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the deceased person lived to see whether a will has…
How can I get a copy of my grandparent’s will if no probate case has been opened? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, a will usually does not become a public record until someone files it with the Clerk of Superior Court for probate. If no estate has been opened, the first practical step…
What happens if a grandparent passed away and no one ever opened an estate? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, a deceased person’s estate does not handle itself. If no one opened an estate, the will may never have been probated, no personal representative may have been appointed, and property may still be sitting…
How do I protect inherited land or other estate property if another heir is letting the house and property fall into serious disrepair? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, inherited land and other estate property can often be protected by getting the estate opened in the clerk of superior court, having a personal representative…
What happens if there are two different wills and nothing has been filed with the court? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, nothing is legally settled until a will is offered to the Clerk of Superior Court for probate. If two different wills exist and neither has been filed, the clerk must first determine…
What can I do if the person named as executor refuses to file the will or open the estate? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, the person named as executor does not get to block probate by doing nothing. An interested person can go to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where…
How can I challenge a later will if I believe my grandparent was pressured into changing it before passing away? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, a later will can usually be challenged by filing a caveat in the decedent’s estate file with the clerk of superior court. A caveat is the formal way…
Can I ask the court to make someone turn over estate property like vehicles, jewelry, and other assets they have kept? – NC Short Answer Yes. In North Carolina, the court can be asked to require a person to appear, answer questions, and turn over property that belongs to a decedent’s estate. The usual path…
How can I get bank statements for my deceased spouse’s account when the bank keeps refusing to release them? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, a surviving spouse usually cannot force a bank to release a deceased spouse’s account statements based on marriage alone. The bank will often require proof that the requester is…
What happens if I need to update an estate filing after discovering a bank account that was left out? – NC Short Answer In North Carolina, a personal representative usually must update the estate record when a bank account is discovered after the original inventory was filed or when the original value was incomplete or…
