Estate Settlement Cost

North Carolina estate administration

North Carolina small-estate limit: $20,000

North Carolina provides collection by affidavit for smaller personal-property estates after a 30-day wait.

Sources reviewed August 7, 2026

Answer first

Affidavit for collection of personal property

Count personal property after liens. The limit is $20,000, or $30,000 when the surviving spouse is the sole heir. G.S. 28A-25-1 is the intestate route: it applies when the decedent died without a will.

Read the eligibility details
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
1. Where and when
Other personalty and income received by the estate after the inventory, entered one account or report at a time

North Carolina charges the opening inventory and each later account or report separately, and sets a minimum for every filing. Three accounts of $1,000 are three separate charges, not one charge on $3,000, so enter each account or report on its own line. This does not affect the small-estate limit. Enter 0 if nothing further was received; leaving a line blank keeps the charge undecided.

2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

North Carolina estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededAdministration of a decedent estateAt least one asset has no amount entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information neededAt least one asset has no amount entered.The clerk may allow compensation up to 5% of receipts and expenditures. This is a ceiling, not an automatic award.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the reviewed rules establish

Simplified route

$20,000

Count personal property after liens. The limit is $20,000, or $30,000 when the surviving spouse is the sole heir. G.S. 28A-25-1 is the intestate route: it applies when the decedent died without a will.

Eligibility and caveats

Court cost

Tiered

North Carolina charges $10 for facilities, $4 for court technology, and $106 for the General Court of Justice, plus $0.40 per $100 of gross estate, with the General Court of Justice assessment capped at $6,000.

Filing-cost detail

Executor compensation

Court-reviewed

The clerk may allow compensation up to 5% of receipts and expenditures. This is a ceiling, not an automatic award.

Compensation detail

Limits and unresolved costs

  • The statute cited here applies when the decedent died intestate, meaning without a will. A separate section covers testate estates.
  • Real property is not transferred through the affidavit procedure.
  • Compensation is discretionary up to the statutory ceiling.
  • The $30,000 surviving-spouse limit applies after any spousal allowance paid under G.S. 30-15 is deducted.
  • Attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, certified copies, tax work, and asset-sale costs are not included unless expressly shown.
  • Asset title, beneficiary designations, creditor claims, and will terms can change the route.
Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

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What North Carolina courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Limits on court material

  • North Carolina publishes both a statewide affidavit form and a statewide cost schedule, so the numbers on this page can be checked against the court's own publication.

Primary sources

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.