How to Contest a Will In North Carolina
Is this the situation you find yourself: You thought you were a beneficiary under a Last Will & Testament. You believed you were designated to receive a dead person’s life insurance policy or financial account. Did the decedent (dead person) lack testamentary capacity to change or make a will? Was the decedent improperly influenced to change their will or to change the beneficiary designations? There is a way to challenge your loss of inheritance. There may be cause to bring a challenge to the validity of the will and/or beneficiary designations. Or perhaps you are the beneficiary...
Read MoreAttested Wills In North Carolina
Testamentary Formalities – Attested Wills In North Carolina In North Carolina, the most common type of will is the attested written will, governed by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-3.3. An attested will is witnessed by others. Attest meaning “to declare to be true, to bear witness to, certify”. The statute has four requirements, all of which are necessary for a valid attested written will. (1)First, an attested written will must be signed by the testator and attested by at least two competent witnesses. This means that the person who seeks to create her last will and testament must sign the will, and...
Read MoreProcess to Contest a Will
In North Carolina, to contest a will there is the following general process: 1) Caveat filing. This is the complaint to be filed by the attorneys for the caveators or challengers of the will. It’s filed in Superior Court in the county where the will was probated. This has to be filed within 3 years of the time of death/probate of will. 2) Bond paid to the clerk for the Caveat. Not a large bond. 3) Order to suspend estate except for maintenance. The Caveator’s attorney files this to be signed by the Clerk in the Estates division. Keeps the assets of the estate from being distributed prior to...
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