Producing a Will in NC
Yes this does happen. You know the decedent did a will. Maybe they even showed you. But now that they died, Cousin/Sibling X went through the house and now the Will is gone. Perhaps Cousin X didn’t get exactly what they wanted in Decedent’s will. Maybe Cousin X has ulterior motives, eg. clean out the possessions beforehand or try to inherit intestate or they were disinherited. You can guess their motives. Nonetheless, not you can’t find the testator’s Last Will & Testament. In this situation, the Courts in North Carolina permit someone to file an application or an affidavit....
Read MoreEstate Challenge- failure to distribute (in NC)
One type of challenge in an estate is the failure of the Executor to carry out his or her duties. So, the will is fine, but the person fails to either 1) pay bills of the estate, 2) file accountings with the clerk, or 3) distribute assets to the beneficiaries. The basic rules in Chapter 28A require the executor (aka personal representative or administrator) to perform their duties. Below is the Statute. If you have problems with the executor failing to perform the duties, call NC Will Contest Attorney Kirk Sanders at 336-723-7200. § 28-A-132. General duties; relation to persons interested in...
Read MoreElective Share Spouses Estates NC Attorney
Case of Elective share. There’s one person in NC that can’t be disinherited from an estate. It’s the dead person’s spouse. If a spouse is written out of a will, then that spouse has options. Kirk Sanders, Estate Litigation Attorney, has handled these types of cases. This also applies if the surviving spouse is not given enough by the dead spouse’s estate. One situation included a stipulation in the will that the surviving spouse received a life estate in a piece of property on the condition that he not co-habitate with other women. Our firm’s estate litigation attorneys were able...
Read MoreEstate Litigation- Hearings Before the Clerk
Not all the cases Kirk Sanders, attorney, handles in estates are will contests. Litigation over estates and trusts involve a myriad of issues. For instance there are battles that include: 1) Executor: Battles over who will become the Executor or Administrator of the estate. We’ve handled cases where the named executor didn’t open the estate and become qualified in a certain period of time and someone else tried to supersede them based on the statute. We had a hearing and the matter was resolved as we wanted. The deference goes to the named and appointed executor under the will. But Executors...
Read MoreBasic Overview of Will Contests in North Carolina
Will Caveats are a strange creature in the North Carolina Court system. They start out as an estate. The Estate gets transferred to Superior Court. Will Contests cases must be tried by a jury, not a bench trial. It all boils down to whether the testator (Signer of the Last Will & Testament) knew what he or she was doing by making the will, and did it of his or her own free will without undue influence. Undue Influence has a whole spectrum of factors dealt with in other news articles on this website. Call the NC Estate Litigation Attorneys at Hendrick Bryant to discuss your case....
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