NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-1 (2026)

Who may make will

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NCLEGncleg.gov (official) JustiaChapter 31 CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Any person of sound mind, and 18 years of age or over, may make a will. (1811, c. 280; R.C., c. 119, s. 2; Code, s. 2137; Rev., s. 3111; C.S., s. 4128; 1953, c. 1098, s. 1; 1965, c. 303; 1969, c. 39.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1959–2018 · leading case: In Re the Est. of Lunsford, 547 S.E.2d 483 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

In Re the Est. of Lunsford, 547 S.E.2d 483 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “G.S. 31-1. Whether through negligence or by intention, intestate (like most people her age) never executed a will to assure that the principles of North Carolina intestate law would not control disbursement of her estate.”

Matter of Will of Maynard, 307 S.E.2d 416 (N.C. Ct. App. 1983). “The record discloses no request that the jury be instructed on the law regarding insane delusions as it relates to the facts of this case, nor was any objection to the instructions entered on the basis of that omission.”

McCraw v. Llewellyn, 123 S.E.2d 575 (N.C. 1962). “The crucial question then for decision is: Does the will dated 30 December 1958 suffice as a memorandum or note of a contract by Minnie to will her property to plaintiff? The answer, unless we depart from well-established legal principles, must be in the negative.”

In Re Will of Roberts, 112 S.E.2d 505 (N.C. 1960). “While it does not appear that Chapter 1098, Session Laws of 1953, now G.S. 31-1 et seq., effects any statutory change relevant to the case sub judice, it is noted that Section 16 of said 1953 Act provides: “This Act does not have the effect of rendering invalid any will executed…”

In Re the Will of Pridgen, 107 S.E.2d 160 (N.C. 1959). “It has no validity, they say, because the statute, G.S. 31-1, permits only those of sound mind to make á will, and Pridgen was not, in October 1957, of sound mind.”

N.C. Dep't of Revenue v. First Petroleum Servs., Inc., 2018 NCBC 19 (N.C. Bus. Ct. 2018). · cites it 2× “Sales & Use Tax Bulletin § 31-1 [“Bulletin”] (emphasis added). 32.”

Clinard v. Comm'r, 40 T.C. 878 (1963). “31-1 ↩ , which provides that infants under the age of 21 years shall be incapable of disposing of realty or personalty by will.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.