North Carolina General Statutes 28A-13-1. Time of accrual of duties and powers
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 28A-13-1
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Personal representative: includes both an executor and an administrator, but does not include a collector. See North Carolina General Statutes 28A-1-1
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
The duties and powers of a personal representative commence upon the personal representative’s appointment. The powers of a personal representative relate back to give acts by the person appointed which are beneficial to the estate occurring prior to appointment the same effect as those occurring thereafter. However, a person named executor in a will may, prior to appointment, carry out written instructions of the decedent relating to the decedent’s body, funeral and burial arrangements; provided that a health care agent authorized in a valid health care power of attorney to make body, funeral, and burial arrangements shall have precedence in making these arrangements, both before and after qualification of the decedent’s personal representative, to the extent provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 32A-19(b). A personal representative may ratify and accept acts on behalf of the estate done by others where the acts would have been proper for a personal representative. (1973, c. 1329, s. 3; 2007-502, s. 17; 2011-344, s. 4.)