Q: After the estate is settled and there is a house does it automatically go to the 3 children of the deceased?
If so what legally needs to be done?
A:
In North Carolina, real estate passes to the heirs on the date of the deceased person's death. Who the real estate is left to is determined by a specific gift of real estate in a will filed with the Clerk of Court's office or it passes under the laws of intestate succession.
According to the laws of intestate succession, if the deceased person is survived by a spouse and children, the spouse gets 50% of the property and the children (and the heirs of deceased children) share in the other 50%. If no spouse survives, the property is split between the living children and the heirs of any deceased children.
The heirs need to decided what they would collectively like to do with the property. Its advisable for the heirs to have an attorney draw up an agreement among them to specify how taxes and insurance are to be paid
and how any rent or profits would be divided among the heirs. If the heirs choose to sell the property, they would need to contact a local real estate attorney to help them.
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