Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

Simple. If the house does not need to be sold to pay money for the estate, let the executor make an early distribution of the house to the beneficiary and have him keep paying the mortgage. Even if this cannot be done it is the beneficiary's responsibility for the home. The exception might be if the executor needs to sell the home to pay estate bills. In that case, the executor needs to sell the home and get things worked out with the mortgage lender and use estate funds to pay perhaps or get some kind of agreement with the beneficiary that the beneficiary will get reimbursed when the home sells.

You do not indicate what the home is worth, how much its mortgaged for, what other debts are in the estate, who gets the home and what stage of the proceedings we are at. All these things could have an impact on the answer. If you are the beneficiary then you should go and pay for a consultation with a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate is pending and the real estate is located. If you are the executor, then you need to discuss with estate counsel as to whether the will gives the executor the authority to sell or whether the house can be distributed to the beneficiary now.

Bottom line - somebody has to pay the mortgage. That somebody is the beneficiary of the land if the property is in NC. Title to land immediately vests in the beneficiaries and they inherit subject to existing mortgages. So the beneficiary is responsible, not the estate.