North Carolina SB 122: GSC Unif. Community Prop. Disp. at Death Act.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 122

Short Title: GSC Unif. Community Prop. Disp. at Death Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Galey (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
February 24, 2025
*S122-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ENACT THE UNIFORM COMMUNITY PROPERTY DISPOSITION AT 2
DEATH ACT, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE GENERAL STATUTES COMMISSION. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. Chapter 31C of the General Statutes is repealed. 5
SECTION 2. Chapter 30 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article 6
to read: 7
"Article 5. 8
"Uniform Community Property Disposition at Death Act. 9
"§ 30-41. Title. 10
This Article may be cited as the Uniform Community Property Disposition at Death Act. 11
"§ 30-42. Definitions. 12
In this Article, the following definitions apply: 13
(1) Community-property spouse. – An individual in a marriage or other 14
relationship that satisfies all of the following: 15
a. Community property could be acquired under the relationship. 16
b. The relationship remains in existence at the time of death of either 17
party to the relationship. 18
(2) Electronic. – Relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, 19
wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. 20
(3) Jurisdiction. – The United States, a state, a foreign country, or a political 21
subdivision of a foreign country. 22
(4) Partition. – Voluntarily divide property to which this Article otherwise would 23
apply. 24
(5) Person. – Defined in G.S. 28A-1-1. 25
(6) Personal representative. – Defined in G.S. 28A-1-1. 26
(7) Property. – Defined in G.S. 32C-1-102. 27
(8) Reclassify. – To change the characterization or treatment of community 28
property to property owned separately by community-property spouses. 29
(9) Record. – Information inscribed on a tangible medium or stored in an 30
electronic or other medium and retrievable in perceivable form. 31
(10) Sign. – With present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to do either of 32
the following: 33
a. Execute or adopt a tangible symbol. 34
b. Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, 35
sound, or process. 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 122-First Edition
(11) State. – Consists of the following: 1
a. A state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 2
United States Virgin Islands, or any other territory or insular 3
possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 4
b. An Indian tribe or band or Alaskan native village that is recognized by 5
federal law or formally acknowledged by an entity listed in 6
sub-subdivision a. of this subdivision. 7
"§ 30-43. Included and excluded property. 8
(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, this Article applies to all of the following 9
property of a community-property spouse, without regard to how the property is titled or held: 10
(1) If a decedent was domiciled in this State at the time of death, all of the 11
following property: 12
a. All or a proportionate part of each item of personal property, wherever 13
located, that was community property under the law of the jurisdiction 14
where the decedent or the surviving community-property spouse was 15
domiciled either when the community property was acquired or, after 16
acquisition, became community property. 17
b. Income, rent, profit, appreciation, or other increase derived from or 18
traceable to property described in sub-subdivision a. of this 19
subdivision. 20
c. Personal property traceable to property described in sub-subdivision a. 21
or b. of this subdivision. 22
(2) Regardless of whether a decedent was domiciled in this State at the time of 23
death, all of the following property: 24
a. All or a proportionate part of each item of real property located in this 25
State traceable to community property or acquired with community 26
property under the law of the jurisdiction where the decedent or the 27
surviving community-property spouse was domiciled either when the 28
community property was acquired or, after acquisition, became 29
community property. 30
b. Income, rent, profit, appreciation, or other increase, derived from or 31
traceable to property described in sub-subdivision a. of this 32
subdivision. 33
(b) If community-property spouses acquired community property by complying with the 34
law of a jurisdiction that allows for creation of community property by transfer of property to a 35
trust, this Article applies to the property only to the extent the property is held in the trust or 36
characterized as community property by the terms of the trust or the law of the jurisdiction under 37
which the trust was created. 38
(c) This Article does not apply to the following property: 39
(1) Property that community-property spouses have partitioned or reclassified. 40
(2) Property that is the subject of a waiver of rights granted by this Article. 41
"§ 30-44. F