Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

Are you talking about criminal restitution? If a criminal defendant owes money as part of the restitution and does not pay it becomes a money judgment which is treated like any other money judgment. The judgment would automatically be a lien on any real property owned by the defendant. If the defendant then died, the estate would have to pay off the lien or sell the property, pay off the lien and any other debts, and then give what is left to the heirs/beneficiaries. Heirs usually inherit real property subject to any existing liens. I could see an heir being liable for a mortgage but an heir might not want to pay off existing restitution or judgments and would let this be an estate responsibility unless they really really wanted the real property/

I guess it would depend on the value of the property and how much the lien was for. I suggest that the personal representative of the dead person's estate talk with an experienced probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the dead person's estate is or will be probated.

Any probate attorney or personal representative would, in probating the estate, search the dockets for any judgments/liens because these have to be satisfied by the estate before the heirs get anything.