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North Carolina source record

Every source behind the North Carolina guide

5 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 21 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch September 15, 2026

What each source establishes

The North Carolina guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-1 (G.S. 28A-25-1)

North Carolina General Assembly · Section history through 2021-71, s. 2.3 · Verified August 7, 2026

(a) When a decedent dies intestate leaving personal property, less liens and encumbrances thereon, not exceeding twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) in value, at any time after 30 days from the date of death

What was published from this source

  • smallEstate.threshold = 20000
  • smallEstate.spouseThreshold = 30000
  • smallEstate.waitingDays = 30
  • smallEstate.valueBasis = net-of-liens
  • smallEstate.assetScope = personal-only

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • $20,000 general ceiling
  • $30,000 surviving-spouse ceiling
  • 30-day wait
  • personal property, less liens
  • surviving-spouse ceiling applies after the statutory spousal allowance
  • route applies when the decedent dies intestate

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Court cost rule

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-307 (G.S. 7A-307)

North Carolina General Assembly · Section history through 2023-88, s. 7 · Verified August 7, 2026

(2) For support of the General Court of Justice, the sum of one hundred six dollars ($106.00), plus an additional forty cents (40¢) per one hundred dollars ($100.00), or major fraction thereof, of the gross estate, not to exceed six thousand dollars ($6,000).

What was published from this source

  • filingFee.amount = 106 base General Court of Justice cost
  • filingFee valuation charge = $0.40 per $100 of gross estate, capped at $6,000
  • filingFee technology surcharge = $4.00
  • gross estate excludes the value of realty not sold

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • $15 minimum for each filing
  • $106 General Court of Justice base
  • 40 cents per $100 valuation charge
  • $6,000 statutory cap
  • $4.00 technology surcharge
  • realty value excluded from gross estate

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Executor compensation rule

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-23-3 (G.S. 28A-23-3)

North Carolina General Assembly · Section history through 2011-344, s. 4 · Verified August 7, 2026

(a) Personal representatives, collectors or public administrators shall be entitled to commissions to be fixed in the discretion of the clerk of superior court not to exceed five percent (5%) upon the amounts of receipts, including the value of all personal property when received, and upon the expenditures made in accordance with law.

What was published from this source

  • executorCompensation.kind = ceiling
  • executorCompensation.tiers = 5% ceiling on receipts and expenditures

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • five percent ceiling
  • receipts and expenditures basis
  • clerk discretion, not automatic
  • $2,000 gross-estate discretion floor

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Creditor deadline rule

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-14-1(a) (G.S. 28A-14-1(a))

North Carolina General Assembly · Section history through 2021-88, s. 9(f · Verified August 7, 2026

which day must be at least three months from the day of the first publication or posting of the notice.

What was published from this source

  • creditorClaims.publication = day named at least three months from first publication

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • at least three months from first publication
  • notice published four consecutive weeks

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Creditor deadline rule

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-19-3 (G.S. 28A-19-3)

North Carolina General Assembly · Section history through 2011-344, s. 4 · Verified August 7, 2026

which are not presented to the personal representative or collector pursuant to G.S. 28A-19-1 by the date specified in the general notice to creditors as provided for in G.S. 28A-14-1(a) or in those cases requiring the delivery or mailing of notice as provided for in G.S. 28A-14-1(b), within 90 days after the date of the delivery or mailing of the notice if the expiration of said 90-day period is later than the date specified in the general notice to creditors, are forever barred against the estate

What was published from this source

  • creditorClaims.actualNotice = 90 days from mailing if later than date in general notice
  • creditorClaims.outerLimit = three years after death if no publication

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • general bar by date specified under 28A-14-1(a)
  • 90 days from actual notice if later
  • three-year outer limit from death when no publication

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Statutes read in full for North Carolina

These are the North Carolina provisions read end to end on the enacting state’s own site, rather than summarised from a secondary source. The middle column is what reading each one actually established for North Carolina — not a restatement of the topic — and the last column records the date the wording was read, so a later amendment can be spotted by comparing dates.

CitationWhat reading it establishedRead on
N.C. G.S. § 28A-25-1North Carolina’s affidavit ceiling moves when the surviving spouse is the sole heir — small estate route note2026-09-17
N.C. G.S. § 28A-23-3North Carolina caps commissions at 5% of receipts and expenditures — and the clerk sets the number — representative pay note2026-09-17

North Carolina source decision map

How the North Carolina records fit together

The source record is most useful when each citation has a job. This map links the North Carolina procedure, cost, compensation, and deadline records to the decision each one can and cannot answer.

QuestionRecorded North Carolina answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Affidavit for collection of personal propertyConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$20,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; North Carolina runs its creditor bar from publication and, for individually notified creditors, from the mailing of actual notice, with a three-year outer limit measured from death. The dates differ by trigger, so they are published separately rather than as one period.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the Clerk of Superior Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?The clerk may allow compensation up to 5% of receipts and expenditures. This is a ceiling, not an automatic award. The relevant base is money received and paid out during administration.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Decision boundary

What the North Carolina source set does not silently decide

The North Carolina records establish the rules listed above, but they do not turn a source citation into advice about title, family priority, tax filing, contested proceedings, or the exact clerk practice in every county. Those questions stay with the official court or a qualified adviser. The useful next step is to match the question to the citation rather than treating the longest quote as the answer to every estate problem.

Arithmetic illustration

See the North Carolina amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded North Carolina ceiling is $20,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $15,000 sits below the North Carolina figure and $25,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what North Carolina counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the North Carolina ceilingWhat it does not decide
$15,000Below $20,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$25,000Above $20,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Open the quoted record for the row you rely on and check the publisher's current text before filing.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official 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.

Source trail

Records used by this North Carolina map

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.

Checking these North Carolina records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the254 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for North Carolina. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the North Carolina estate guide ·All 254 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected