How can I open an ancillary probate to sell an out-of-state home when the main estate may be insolvent? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, an “ancillary” estate administration is a separate, limited estate case opened in the county where the decedent owned property in North Carolina, when the main (domiciliary) estate is…
Do I need to inventory a joint bank account during probate and how do I obtain the signature card? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a joint bank account may or may not be a probate asset, but the personal representative often still needs to list it on the estate inventory and provide…
How does a court-ordered partition action work? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a court-ordered partition is a special court process that lets a co-owner of real estate force either (1) a physical division of the property (partition in kind) or (2) a court-supervised sale with the proceeds divided among the owners (partition…
How do I identify and assemble the necessary assets, like bank accounts or real estate, for probate? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina probate, the person who qualifies as the personal representative (executor or administrator) must locate the decedent’s probate assets, take control of them, and report them to the Clerk of Superior…
What happens to funds in a joint survivorship account set up between my parent and my sibling before death? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, money in a true joint account with right of survivorship usually becomes the surviving co-owner’s property at death and does not pass through the estate. However, the outcome…
What steps do I need to transfer a brokerage account into a trust created by a will? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a brokerage account passes into a trust created by a will (a testamentary trust) only after (1) the will is probated, (2) someone has legal authority to act (a qualified…
Can I sue my sibling to recover personal property and a vehicle taken after a parent’s death? – North Carolina Short Answer Possibly, but in North Carolina the cleaner path is often to open an estate first (or use a small-estate procedure) so a legally authorized person can demand the property and, if needed, file…
When, after the creditor claim period, can distributions be made to beneficiaries who are supposed to receive outright gifts versus those whose shares must be held in subtrusts? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a personal representative often waits until the three-month creditor claim period expires before making meaningful distributions, because early distributions…
If interest on matured savings bonds was never reported, who owes the tax and when does it have to be paid? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, unpaid income tax tied to U.S. savings bond interest is usually handled as part of the decedent’s final income tax return and/or the estate’s fiduciary income…
What steps are needed to transfer a house held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship? – North Carolina Short Answer In North Carolina, a house held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship generally passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant when one owner dies, outside of probate. To update the public record and…
