What to gather for a small estate in North Carolina

A sworn affidavit filed with the clerk of superior court. A certified copy lets you collect the person's bank accounts, vehicles, stocks and other personal property. You then pay allowances and debts, distribute what is left, and file a closing affidavit. It works with or without a will.

Limit

Up to $20,000 (deaths on or after October 1, 2009) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of death	Limit
On or after October 1, 2009	$20,000
On or before September 30, 2009	$10,000

The person's personal property, minus liens and encumbrances, cannot be worth more than $20,000. If the affiant is the surviving spouse who inherits everything, the limit is $30,000, after subtracting any year's allowance paid to the spouse. For deaths before October 1, 2009, the limits were $10,000 and $20,000.

What counts

The value of all the person's personal property, minus liens and encumbrances on it. When the surviving spouse inherits everything and uses the $30,000 limit, any spouse's year's allowance paid is also subtracted. Real estate is not counted, whatever its value.

Waiting period

At least 30 days must have passed since the death, and no one can have applied for or been appointed as personal representative in any state.

Who can use it

An heir, a will beneficiary (devisee), a person named as executor in the will, a creditor, or the county's public administrator, if not disqualified. If there is a will, it must first be admitted to probate and a certified copy attached. The $30,000 limit applies only when the surviving spouse is the affiant and inherits everything. With the AOC form, all applicants sign.

Court or where to file

Clerk of superior court of the county where the person was domiciled at death. The clerk indexes it and mails a copy to the people entitled to the property.

Notary

Each signer's signature must be notarized, or acknowledged before the clerk, an assistant or a deputy clerk.

Papers to attach

• Certified death certificate
• Certified copy of the will, if there is one (the will must already be probated and recorded in each county where the person owned real estate)
• Preliminary inventory of assets on side two of form AOC-E-203B
• Description of each tract of real property the person owned
• Names and addresses of everyone entitled to the property and their relationship to the person

Steps

1. Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
2. If there is a will, have it probated by the clerk first.
3. Fill in form AOC-E-203B, including the preliminary inventory, and sign it before a notary or the clerk.
4. File it with the clerk of superior court in the county where the person lived and pay the fees.
5. Give certified copies to banks, the DMV and others holding property, and collect it.
6. Pay the year's allowances first, then the debts in the legal order of priority, then distribute the rest to the heirs or beneficiaries.
7. Within 90 days after filing, file the closing Affidavit of Collection, Disbursement and Distribution (AOC-E-204) and pay the rest of the fee.

Fee

$120 when you file: a $10 facilities fee, a $4 court technology fee and the $106 General Court of Justice fee. When you file the closing affidavit you also pay 40 cents per $100 of the gross estate collected (minimum $15).

If you can't pay

All fees are waived on written request if the amount to be collected is $5,000 or less and comes only from the state Escheat Fund (unclaimed property).

Debts and responsibility

The person who collects is answerable and accountable to any personal representative appointed later and to anyone else with an interest in the estate. The clerk can hold an affiant who does not distribute the property or file the closing affidavit in contempt, or require a bond.

What the bank or holder must do

A holder who pays or transfers property on a proper affidavit is released as if it dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check the truth of the affidavit. If a holder refuses, the property can be recovered in a court action, and the court costs and attorney's fees are charged to the holder whose refusal made the action necessary.

Forms

• AOC-E-203B Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (for deaths on or after Jan. 1, 2012), Rev. 8/21
• Instructions for AOC-E-203A and AOC-E-203B

Law: N.C. Gen. Stat. secs. 28A-25-1 to 28A-25-5; N.C. Gen. Stat. secs. 7A-307

Source: Official page