Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

If your son's father owed money to the uncle, the proper thing is for the uncle to sue the personal representative of the father's estate. If there is not one, one needs to be appointed. If I were your son, I would object to the uncle bringing suit against an improper party and argue that the uncle needs to sue the real party in interest, which is the estate. Since the estate is a thing, not a person, it is represented by the personal representative.

Your son needs to file "objections" raising this issue. He should get these argued before a judge, but there probably is not enough time before the hearing. He should file something before the hearing and see if the magistrate will hear the objections. If not, he needs to ask for a continuance to allow the objections to be heard. My guess is that uncle is representing himself and has no clue about these things.

Here is a link to a small claims guide for NC:

http://www.legalaidnc.org/public/learn/publications/small_claims_court/default.aspx