What Happens If You Die Without a Will in NC

When you die without a Will in North Carolina, known as dying intestate, the state of North Carolina decides who inherits your property. The law sets out a strict order of heirs based on your family relationships, without regard to your personal wishes or circumstances. That means the people you care about most may not receive what you would have wanted them to have.

This article summarizes the laws that control who receives your property if you die without a Will in North Carolina and answers some common questions such as:

What Controls Who Inherits My Property if I Die Without a Will?

Creating a Will lets you choose who will receive your property after you die. Without one, the North Carolina’s Intestate Succession Act applies. The laws are rigid. They represent the legislature’s best guess on how a typical deceased North Carolinian would want their property distributed. As such, they can result in your property passing in a way you would not have chosen.

Do Intestacy Laws Apply to All Property?

No, intestacy laws only apply to probate assets. Many assets pass outside of probate through beneficiary designations and are not controlled by a Will or intestacy laws. These include:

• Real estate or bank accounts held as joint tenants with right of survivorship or tenants by the entirety (for married couples), ownership automatically transfers to the surviving owner.
• Life insurance policies, retirement accounts (such as 401(k)s and IRAs), and bank accounts with payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designations go directly to the named beneficiaries.
• Property placed in a revocable living trust will pass according to the trust terms and does not go through intestate succession.

If a beneficiary has died, no beneficiary is named, or your estate is listed as beneficiary, those assets may become probate assets and pass through intestacy.

Who Inherits When Single Persons with No Descendants Die Without a Will in North Carolina?

When a single person with no descendants dies without a Will, their property passes as follows:

• If both parents survive, they inherit everything.
• If only one parent survives, they inherit everything.
• If neither parent survives, the estate passes to siblings (or their descendants).
• If no surviving parents or siblings exist, half the estate will pass to maternal relatives and the other half to paternal relatives.
• If no living relatives exist, the estate escheats to the State of North Carolina.

Who Inherits When Single Persons with Children Die Without a Will?

If you die intestate in North Carolina with surviving children but no spouse, your children will inherit your entire estate in equal shares. The descendants of any deceased child would inherit their deceased parent’s share.

For example, suppose John had three children, Tom, Dick, and Harry. Tom has two children, Jack and Jill, and Dick has one child, Mary.

If Tom died before John, Dick and Harry would each receive a third of John’s property, and Jack and Jill would share the third that would have passed to Tom. However, if all John’s children predeceased then each grandchild would receive an equal share.

Who Inherits When Married People Die Without a Will in North Carolina?

Many people assume a surviving spouse receives everything. That is not always true. What a spouse receives depends on whether the asset is real property or personal property, and whether the deceased left parents or descendants.

Real Property (Land, Homes, Real Estate)

In North Carolina, how real property passes upon the death of a spouse depends on how the property is titled. The three most common forms of ownership are:

1. Tenancy by the Entirety (TBE) – Most Common for Married Couples

Real estate acquired by a married couple in North Carolina is presumed to be held as tenants by the entirety unless the deed says otherwise. When one spouse dies, the survivor automatically owns the whole property.

2. Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship (JTWROS)

If the deed says the married couple owns the property as joint tenants with right of survivorship, the survivor becomes the sole owner automatically. Intestacy does not apply.

3. Separate Property and Tenancy in Common (TIC)

If the property is owned as one spouse’s separate property or as tenants in common, each spouse owns a separate share that does not pass automatically to the surviving spouse. That share passes by a Will, or North Carolina’s intestacy laws, if no will exists.

If you die without a Will, this real estate will pass as follows:

• If you don’t have children or surviving parents, all your real property will pass to your surviving spouse.
• If your parents survive you but you have not children, your spouse will inherit one-half and your parents will inherit one-half
• If one child (or their descendants) survive you, your spouse inherits one-half and our your child inherits one-half
• If two or more children (or their descendants) survive, your spouse will inherit one-third in your real property, and your children will inherit the rest.

Personal Property (Bank Accounts, Vehicles, Jewelry, etc.)

Personal property includes things like bank and brokerage accounts titled in your name alone, household goods, vehicles, and other movable property that is not otherwise non‑probate. If you die without a Will, your personal property will be distributed as follows:

• If you don’t have children or surviving parents, your spouse will inherit all your personal property.
• If you do not have children, but both or either of your parents survive you, then your spouse receives the first $100,000 in value plus one-half of the balance of the personal property; your parents would inherit the remainder.
• If one child (or descendants of one child) survive you, your spouse will inherit the first $60,000 in of personal property plus one-half of the balance of the property. Your children or their descendants will inherit the remainder.
• If two or more children (or their descendants) survives you, then your spouse inherits the first $60,000 in value but only one-third of the balance of the personal property; your children inherit the remaining personal property.

Note, however, that North Carolina protects a surviving spouse with an elective share. A spouse can claim a percentage of the total estate, regardless of what your Will says.

What Happens If You Don’t Have Surviving Blood Relatives?

If you die without a will and have no surviving spouse, children, parents, siblings, or extended relatives, your property will pass to the State of North Carolina.

Why You Need a Will

Dying without a Will can create outcomes most people do not want, including:

• Fiancés or unmarried partners inherit nothing.
• Estranged parents may inherit against your wishes.
• Surviving spouses may not receive all property.
• Minor children inherit assets at 18, without safeguards for responsible management.

For example, suppose you are single but plan to marry your fiancé with whom you live. If you die without a Will, your fiancé would not receive your estate, something you likely would have wanted. Or perhaps you have a strained relationship with one or more of your parents. You may have preferred your estate to pass to a friend or a charity. That wouldn’t matter either. Your parents would inherit your property anyway.

Surviving spouses, who assume they will inherit all their spouse’s property after they die, are usually shocked to discover that is not the case. This can be especially catastrophic in situations where there is a contentious relationship with the deceased spouse’s parents, or in blended family situations where there is an acrimonious relationship with stepchildren.

When children are minors, not having a Will means the court will appoint a guardian to hold the property your children inherit. The guardian will need to file annual accountings, which can be time-consuming and costly. Additionally, the guardian would not be permitted to distribute principal for the child’s support or education unless evidence existed that your spouse lacked sufficient assets to provide support. Finally, your children would receive that property on their 18^th birthday, when they may not have the wisdom or maturity to handle it.

Having a will lets you choose your beneficiaries, name guardians and trustees, and add protections like trusts for minors or young adults. If you want control over your estate, consult an estate planning attorney to create a legally valid will.

Why Work with an Estate Planning Attorney?

An experienced North Carolina estate planning attorney can help you navigate these legal requirements to ensure your North Carolina Will carries out your wishes after you die.

This article was originally published on January 2, 2022 and updated on February 1, 2025.