Is An Online Will Legally Valid in North Carolina?
An online will can absolutely hold up in North Carolina, as long as the process is finalized and done correctly. Let's delve into what "correctly" means.
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What Makes an Online Will Legally Valid in North Carolina?
Online wills are legal in North Carolina, but the state recently added a new wrinkle. As of January 1, 2026, a properly signed and witnessed will can be stored as an electronic record by a licensed North Carolina attorney and later offered for probate as a certified paper copy. That's different from signing a will electronically. For the signing itself, the document must still be printed on paper, signed by the testator, and signed by two witnesses in the testator's presence. Notarization is not required unless you want to make the will self-proving.
North Carolina allows the submission of holographic, or handwritten, wills with no witnesses required, as long as the document is entirely in the testator's own handwriting and signed by them.
What You Need to Know about Online Wills in North Carolina
North Carolina Property Laws
When it comes to estate law, North Carolina is a common law property state. This means ownership of an asset generally goes to the person whose name is on the title, deed, or account. A surviving spouse can also claim an elective share against a will. This is dependent upon the length of the marriage and ranges from 15% under five years of marriage up to 50% at fifteen years or more.
North Carolina Probate
All wills go through probate in North Carolina unless the personal property is valued at $20,000 or less ($30,000 or less if a surviving spouse is the sole heir), in which case you could choose to pursue a small estate affidavit. Otherwise, a trust is needed to avoid probate. One item to note is that North Carolina has no state estate or inheritance tax.
Avoiding Probate in North Carolina
- The easiest option is to put your estate into a revocable living trust. This allows you to have the most control over your estate by overseeing it as the trustee. You name a successor trustee within the trust who manages asset distribution after your death.
- Another option is to name beneficiaries for financial and retirement accounts. Depending on what type of account you have, you can choose a payable-on-death (POD) designation or a transfer-on-death (TOD) designation to list who become the owner of the account upon your death.
- Set up joint ownership with right of survivorship to give your spouse or another co-owner automatic ownership of any joint property.
Want to learn more about trusts in North Carolina? Visit FeedingBird's trust page to dig deeper into trusts.
