Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

The only person who cannot be disinherited in a will is a spouse, provided that she has not waived her rights under a pre-marital agreement. However, it depends on what, if any provision was made for her in the will and whether she has elective rights.

Since she is being recalcitrant, I suggest that you see a probate litigation attorney in the county/state where your father lived at the time of his death.

If your stepmother will not voluntarily allow you to see the will, then you can compel her to produce the will. However, wills can be changed right up until death. If you have not seen the will, how do you know that you are the executor? Depending on when the will was made, the will could have been revised.

Its not a question of whether a second wife has lifetime rights. A spouse always has rights to inherit and if the will makes no provision for the spouse, to take either an elective share or lifetime rights. The problem here is that I don't know what your father owned at the time of his death, how it was titled, whether he had a will or whether he entered into some kind of marital agreement with his second wife. That is why you will need to sit down with a probate attorney and pay him or her for his time to review the situation and advise you of your rights.