(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, upon the death of a spouse, property held as tenants by the entirety belongs to the surviving spouse by right of purchase under the original grant or devise and by virtue of survivorship. The deceased spouse has no estate which is descendable or divisible.

(b) Where a slayer, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31A-3(3), and decedent hold property as tenants by the entirety, one-half of the property shall pass upon the death of the decedent to the decedent’s estate, and one-half shall be held by the slayer during the slayer’s life, subject to pass upon the slayer’s death to the slain decedent’s heirs or devisees as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-1-1. (1961, c. 210, s. 1; 1979, c. 572; 2020-50, s. 1(a)-(c).)