Article 1.
General Provisions.
§ 29-1. Short title.
This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Intestate Succession Act. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
§ 29-2. Definitions.
As used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the term:
(1) "Advancement" means an irrevocable inter vivos gift of property, made by an intestate donor to any person who would be the donor's heir or one of the donor's heirs upon the donor's death, and intended by the intestate donor to enable the donee to anticipate the donee's inheritance to the extent of the gift; except that no gift to a spouse shall be considered an advancement unless so designated by the intestate donor in a writing signed by the donor at the time of the gift.
(2) "Estate" means all the property of a decedent, including but not limited to:
a. An estate for the life of another; and
b. All future interests in property not terminable by the death of the owner thereof, including all reversions, remainders, executory interests, rights of entry and possibilities of reverter, subject, however, to all limitations and conditions imposed upon such future interests.
(3) "Heir" means any person entitled to take real or personal property upon intestacy under the provisions of this Chapter.
(4) "Lineal descendants" of a person means all children of such person and successive generations of children of such children.
(5) "Net estate" means the estate of a decedent, exclusive of family allowances, costs of administration, and all lawful claims against the estate.
(6) "Share," when used to describe the share of a net estate or property which any person is entitled to take, includes both the fractional share of the personal property and the undivided fractional interest in the real property, which the person is entitled to take. (1959, c. 879, s. 1; 1961, c. 958, s. 1; 2011-344, s. 5.)
§ 29-3. Certain distinctions as to intestate succession abolished.
In the determination of those persons who take upon intestate succession there is no distinction:
(1) Between real and personal property, or
(2) Between ancestral and nonancestral property, or
(3) Between relations of the whole blood and those of the half blood. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
§ 29-4. Curtesy and dower abolished.
The estates of curtesy and dower are hereby abolished. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
§ 29-5. Computation of next of kin.
Degrees of kinship shall be computed as provided in G.S. 104A-1. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
§ 29-6. Lineal succession unlimited.
There shall be no limitation on the right of succession by lineal descendants of an intestate. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
§ 29-7. Collateral succession limited.
There shall be no right of succession by collateral kin who are more than five degrees of kinship removed from an intestate; provided that if there is no collateral relative within the five degrees of kinship referred to herein, then collateral succession shall be unlimited to prevent any property from escheating. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
§ 29-8. Partial intestacy.
If part but not all of the estate of a decedent is validly disposed of by the decedent's will, the part not disposed of by such will shall descend and be distributed as intestate property. (1959, c. 879, s. 1; 2011-344, s. 5.)
§ 29-9. Inheritance by unborn infant.
Lineal descendants and other relatives of an intestate born within 10 lunar months after the death of the intestate, shall inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the intestate and had survived him. (1959, c. 879, s. 1.)
Renunciation of an intestate share shall be as provided for in Chapter 31B of the General Statutes. (1959, c. 879, s. 1; 1961, c. 958, s. 2; 1975, c. 371, s. 2.)
§ 29-11. Aliens.
Unless otherwise provided by law, it shall be no bar to intestate succession by any person, that the person, or any other person through whom the person traces the person's inheritance, is or has been an alien. (1959, c. 879, s. 1; 2011-344, s. 5.)
§ 29-12. Escheats.
If there is no person entitled to take under G.S. 29-14 or G.S. 29-15, or if in case of an intestate born out of wedlock, there is no one entitled to take under G.S. 29-21 or G.S. 29-22, the net estate shall escheat as provided in G.S. 116B-2.2. (1959, c. 879, s. 1; 1961, c. 83; 1973, c. 1446, s. 7; 1999-456, s. 1; 1999-460, s. 8; 2013-198, s. 6; 2020-48, s. 3.1(g).)
§ 29-12.1. Controversies under this Chapter.
Any controversy arising under this Chapter shall be determined as an estate proceeding under Article 2 of Chapter 28A of the General Statutes, except that controversies arising under Article 8 of this Chapter shall be determined as set forth in that Chapter. (2011-344, s. 5.)