A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to conform the statute relating to reimbursement for expenditures made by spouses on joint property with current family law practice, as recommended by the family law section of the north carolina bar association.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 41‑61 reads as rewritten:
"§ 41‑61.  Reimbursement for expenditures made on entireties property.
(a)	After a tenancy by the entirety has been terminated by death, neither the surviving spouse nor the personal representative of the deceased spouse shall be entitled to reimbursement from the other for expenditures made with respect to the subject property during the existence of the tenancy by the entirety, including payments made for recurring expenses, improvements, and payments made on indebtedness secured by a lien on the subject property.
(b)	When the tenancy by the entirety is converted to a tenancy in common by absolute divorce or otherwise, responsibility for expenditures for the property held as tenants in common is allocated as provided by the law governing tenants in common, unless otherwise directed in a court order such as in an equitable distribution proceeding.
(c)	Nothing in this section shall do any of the following:
(1)	Apply in any proceeding for equitable distribution, or constitute any limitation on the power of the court in any equitable distribution proceeding.
(2)	Render unenforceable the terms of any otherwise valid and enforceable provisions in a premarital agreement, postmarital agreement, or promissory note given by one spouse to the other.
(3)	Affect any otherwise valid and enforceable lien or judgment."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.