Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

The copy can be probated but the process is more cumbersome to do so. It would be better and easier if you had the original will. The problem with copies is that if your father had the original, there is always the possibility that he changed his mind after the will was executed and eitherr destroyed his will or made yet another will. I am not saying that happened in your case but its a possibility so that is why the clerk prefers originals.

There is no requirement (in NC) that clerks store wills on file at the court and not all clerks offer this service. It would be unusual if your father filed his will. Have you looked where your father keeps his important papers? Did he have a fireproof safe or safe deposit box? If a diligent search turns up nothing then the lawyer can either probate the copy of the will (you will probably need the witnesses to it) OR you can still probate an estate under the intestacy laws. Assuming your mother was deceased and your father was a widower and had not remarried when he passed, then all of his assets would be equally shared among you and your siblings. Unless the will left everything to you, it may not much matter if there was a will or not if the will provided that all is to be split among the children equally.

Further, you can also open an estate even though there is no will. If one is later foound, then you just abide by what the will says. So it is less of a big deal than you think.