What You Need to Know About Transfer on Death Deeds in North Carolina
A transfer-on-death deed in North Carolina is a legally enforceable instrument. Here’s everything you need to know about transfer-on-death deeds in North Carolina.
A transfer-on-death deeds declare the property owner’s intention to transfer the things specified in writing to their beneficiary upon the grantor’s death.
Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements
Every death deed should contain the following information:
- Indication of deed status
- A description of the property involved
- The individual’s or entity’s signatures who are transferring the property
- Explanation regarding who will take the property title
Deeds do not require much information, therefore, the document is relatively brief. However, the paper could also include extra information such as the transfer’s restrictions or promises. The future property owner must handle each deed. Parties should submit the deed with the proper authority.
Requirements for a Legal Property Transfer
To make a legal transfer, one must complete the following:
- Although a transfer on death instrument does not require notice, delivery, or consideration to be valid, it must have the “essential features and formalities of a legally recordable inter vivos deed,” implying a grantor, a grantee, property description, conveyance wording, and the grantor’s signature.
- Two witnesses must sign the document.
- One must notarize the document.
- The paperwork must declare the intended property transfer to the selected beneficiary upon the owner’s death.
- The owner must record the document before their death.
Related: North Carolina Probate: The Basics
What types of property pass through the estate administration process?
Vehicles, bank accounts, stocks and bonds, furniture, and jewelry will likely go through the estate administration process. “Probate assets” go through the estate administration process.
“Non-probate assets” that may pass outside the process may include:
- Property held with a “right of survivorship,” meaning it passes to the last owner alive, or property with a named beneficiary alive are examples of “non-probate assets” that may pass outside the probate process.
Life insurance plans, retirement accounts, joint bank accounts, and annuities are examples of such property. - Unless the will specifies otherwise or the sale of these assets must occur to pay estate obligations, land and residences do not go through the probate estate.
What is “probate”?
The word “probate” has two different connotations. Estate administration, sometimes known as “the probate procedure,” is “probate.”
The procedure by which a court examines whether a “purported” will is the decedent’s final will and testament and valid to convey title to property is known as “probate” or “probating the will.”
What is intestacy?
North Carolina intestacy law specifies how a decedent’s property is distributed without a valid will. Intestacy law similarly distributes property because most people leave their property to their immediate relatives when they create a will. If a person dies without a will, the property may divide between the surviving spouse and children (or spouse and parents if no children) based on the property’s value and type.
Related: 7 Steps to the North Carolina Divorce Process
If a person does not have a spouse but has children, grandkids, great-grandchildren, or other relatives, the property divides among the children or descendants of deceased children.
If none of the above relatives survive the decedent, assets go to family members in the following priority order:
- Parents
- Siblings and their children, grandchildren, etc.
- Grandparents
- Aunts and uncles and, if deceased, their descendants.
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If you or a loved one would like to learn more about Transfer on Death Deeds North Carolina, get your free consultation with one of our most qualified Attorneys in North Carolina today!