North Carolina route screening

North Carolina small-estate limit: $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.

Private by design: entries stay in this browser.

1. Where and when

StateNorth CarolinaFixed to this page. Open the navigator to compare another state.Date of deathRequired. Without it no waiting period can be tested and the route stays undecided.

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.

Account or report 1$

The surviving spouse receives the entire estate

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

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real property

Asset 2

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real propertyWill it be sold during administration?Some court charges are assessed on sale proceeds and exclude real property that is kept, so this changes the amount.

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.

Controlling source

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

Statute

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-1

Reviewed source note: (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

North Carolina General Assembly · Reviewed August 7, 2026