Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

.

I am sorry for your tragic double loss.

Just so I get it, neither mother nor step-father has a will? Correct?

NC has a simultaneous death act which provides a 120-hour survivorship requirement. � 28A-24-2. Requirement of survival by 120 hours.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Article, where the title to property, the devolution of property, the right to elect an interest in property, or any other right or benefit depends upon an individual's survivorship of the death of another individual, an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the other individual by at least 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased the other individual.

(b) If the language of the governing instrument disposes of property in such a way that two or more beneficiaries are designated to take alternatively by reason of surviving each other and it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that any such beneficiary has survived any other such beneficiary by at least 120 hours, the property shall be divided into as many equal shares as there are alternative beneficiaries, and these shares shall be distributed respectively to each such beneficiary's estate.

(c) If the language of the governing instrument disposes of property in such a way that it is to be distributed to the member or members of a class who survived an individual, each member of the class will be deemed to have survived that individual by at least 120 hours unless it is established by clear and convincing evidence that the individual survived the class member or members by at least 120 hours.

Since that was not met here, both mother and step-father are deemed to have died together. So their jointly held assets will go 1/2 to mother's children and 1/2 to step-father's parent. Any property owned solely by mother goes to her children and any property owned solely by step-father goes to his family.

Since mother has 3 children, they will get mother's share. Stepfather has no children (I assume he did not adopt mother's children) so his share of the assets will pass to his living parent.