North Carolina

Common Law State

North Carolina is a Common Law State, which means the rules governing the ownership, division, and inheritance of income and property acquired by a husband or wife during their marriage hold that subject to various qualifications, each spouse owns and has complete control over their or her income and property.

Will Creation

The minimum age of a person competent to make a will is 18. The number of witnesses necessary to execute a will is two.

Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA)

Custodial property may be invested in or used to pay premiums on (1) a policy on the minor’s life if the minor’s estate is the sole beneficiary, or (2) a policy on a third party in whom the child has an insurable interest if the minor or the custodian is the irrevocable beneficiary.

The custodial arrangement terminates when:

• The minor child reaches age 21 for custodial transfers made by irrevocable lifetime gift, will, trust, or exercise of a power of appointment. This can be conveyed earlier at age 18 if noted in the trust terms.
• The minor child reaches age 18 for other custodial transfers.
• The minor child dies.

Dying without a Last Will, the North Carolina Laws of Intestacy.

Real property goes to the surviving spouse as follows:

• If there is no parent, child, or lineal descendant of a deceased child, —100%
• If there is no child or lineal descendants of a deceased child, but one or more parents—50% undivided interest
• If there is only one child or a lineal descendant of only one deceased child—50% undivided interest
• If there are two or more children, or one child and any lineal descendant of one or more deceased children or lineal descendants of two or more deceased children—one‐third of undivided interest

Personal property goes to the surviving spouse as follows:

• If there is no parent, child, or lineal descendant of a deceased child, —100%
• If there is only one surviving child or a lineal descendant of only one deceased child—100% if the net personal property does not exceed $60,000 in value; $60,000 plus 50% of the balance of the property if the net personal property exceeds $60,000 in value
• If there are two or more surviving children, or one child and any lineal descendant of one or more deceased children or by lineal descendants of two or more deceased children—100% if the net personal property does not exceed $60,000 in value; $60,000 plus one‐third of the balance of the property if the net personal property exceeds $60,000 in value
• If one or both parents survive, but there are no surviving children or lineal descendants of a deceased child or children—100% if the net personal property does not exceed $100,000 in value; $100,000 plus 50% of the balance of the property if the net personal property exceeds $100,000 in value

If there is no surviving spouse, or if a portion of the estate does not go to the spouse:

• If there is only one child or one lineal descendant of one deceased child, —100% to that person
• If the decedent is survived by two or more children or by one child and any lineal descendant of one or more deceased children, or by lineal descendants of two or more deceased children—100%, by representation (see NC. Gen. Stat. §29‐16)

If there is no surviving spouse or child or descendant of any deceased child:

• 100% to surviving parent or parents equally

If there is no surviving spouse, child, lineal descendant of any deceased child, or parent:

• 100% to siblings and lineal descendants of any deceased siblings, by representation (see NC. Gen. Stat. §29‐16)

If none of the above:

• Intestacy laws outline further distribution steps to the level of grandparents and their descendants. See NC. Gen. Stat. §29‐15(5).
• If no legally described recipient can be found, estate assets go to the state of North Carolina.

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Digital Assets

North Carolina follows the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act to ensure that testators can retain control of their digital property and plan for its ultimate disposition.

Inheritance Tax

North Carolina does not impose an inheritance tax.

Credit Estate Tax

North Carolina does not impose an estate tax.

Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax (GST Tax)

North Carolina imposes a GST tax equal to the maximum credit permitted for paid state GST tax under the federal tax code. The current federal tax code does not allow a credit for state GST tax paid. Therefore, there is no current GST tax.

Gift Tax

North Carolina does not impose a gift tax.

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