Summary Administration: A Streamlined Estate Administration Process for Married People
When a person passes away in North Carolina, there is typically some amount of property that will need to go through the court supervised estate administration process. While North Carolina’s version of this process is reasonably straightforward, it does take time and effort (and money) that most families would rather not spend in the wake of the loss of a loved one. Thankfully, the law has a number of alternative processes that may be available when certain criteria are met. One such process may be available to a deceased person’s surviving spouse, and it can drastically reduce the amount of effort needed to transfer assets into the surviving spouse’s name. It is known as “summary administration.”
Rather than going through the typical estate administration process (sometimes referred to as “probate”), which can take months or years to complete, a surviving spouse may be able to use summary administration to quickly take ownership of all of the deceased person’s property, and do so without having to jump through many of the hoops usually put before an estate’s personal representative. But in order to take advantage of this option, the surviving spouse must submit a petition to the court which states, to the best of the surviving spouse’s knowledge, certain pieces of information including:
The date the surviving spouse and the deceased person were married.
That the two remained married until the deceased person’s death.
A description of all property owned by the deceased person and the “probable value” of that property.
That no person has applied to administer the deceased person’s estate via some other process.
That the surviving spouse is the sole devisee or sole heir (or both) of the deceased spouse.
That any property left to the surviving spouse under a will is left to the spouse outright rather than in trust.
The last two requirements — that the surviving spouse (i) is the sole recipient of property and (ii) receives everything outright — are particularly important. If any other person is entitled to receive property from the deceased person’s estate, or if the surviving spouse receives any assets in any type of trust, then summary administration is not available. Assuming no other alternative method of administration is available, the surviving spouse will have to resort to the ordinary estate administration process.
If the surviving spouse has successfully petitioned the court for summary administration, the clerk of court will enter an order which allows the surviving spouse to transfer to himself or herself any property that the deceased spouse owned including accounts, vehicles, stocks, real estate, etc. There will be no need for notices to creditors, 90-day inventories, or final accountings, all of which are required under the normal estate administration process. There is a tradeoff, however. In exchange for all of this ease and efficiency, the surviving spouse will not only be receiving all of the deceased spouse’s property, but all of the deceased spouse’s liabilities, too. This would not normally be the case in the typical estate administration process.
If you are the surviving spouse of a recently deceased person, you may want to contact an attorney to discuss the possibility of handling the estate via summary administration. There are reasons to think about summary administration while both spouses are living, too. Married couples should talk with an attorney about whether summary administration will be a useful option for the surviving spouse and, if so, should get an attorney’s help to make sure the terms of their wills don’t preclude its use. The Law Office of Ryan A. Layton, PLLC is experienced in both estate planning and estate administration and can help couples craft a plan that meets their needs in the most efficient manner possible. To learn more, call or email to schedule a free consultation.
The information contained in this blog post is intended only as general legal information and should not be construed as formal legal advice on any matter, nor should its presentation be construed as intent on the part of The Law Office of Ryan A. Layton, PLLC to form an attorney-client relationship with any user of this website. For more information, please see this disclaimer.