New Law Affects Wills Disinheriting Spouses

The North Carolina Elective Share statute has changed. Spouses in North Carolina once had the right to “Dissent” from a deceased spouse’s Will if statutorily inadequate provision were made for the surviving spouse. The dissent statute was later changed to a right to claim an “Elective Share.” The new elective share statute still, however, controlled the percentage share of the surviving spouse based upon whether the surviving spouse had had children with the deceased spouse. The new statute provides a percentage based upon the term of the marriage. How will this affect your estate plan? Is your Will up to date?

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_30/GS_30-3.1.html