N.C. Gen. Stat. » Chapter 31
NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.4 (2026)

Revocation by divorce or annulment; revival

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section NCLEGncleg.gov (official) JustiaChapter 31 CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Unless a contrary intent is expressly indicated in the will, if the testator's marriage is dissolved by absolute divorce or annulment after the execution of a will, then the testator's former spouse shall be deemed to have predeceased the testator for all purposes related to the construction, interpretation, or administration of that will. This section shall apply to all provisions of the testator's will, including, but not by way of limitation, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former spouse and any appointment of the former spouse as executor, trustee, conservator, guardian, or any other fiduciary or nonfiduciary position.

(b) This section shall not apply to a will if the following occur:

(1) The testator executes a subsequent valid testamentary document that makes express reference to the will, such as by date of the will, and which modifies the will.

(2) The testator remarries the former spouse prior to the testator's death, unless the remarriage is subsequently dissolved by absolute divorce or annulment.

(c) As used in this section, the term "former spouse" includes a purported former spouse.  (1953, c. 1098, s. 6; 1977, c. 74, s. 3; 1991, c. 587, s. 1; 2023-120, s. 2.1.)

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1963–2022 · leading case: Gibboney v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 622 S.E.2d 162 (N.C. Ct. App. 2005).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Gibboney v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 622 S.E.2d 162 (N.C. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 14× “All defendants except Wachovia Bank appeal.”
Ivery v. Ivery, 129 S.E.2d 457 (N.C. 1963). · cites it 4× “6) now codified as G.S. 31-5.4, which provides: “§ 31-5.4. Revocation by divorce.”
Parks v. Johnson, 870 S.E.2d 290 (N.C. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 15× “¶8 The Magestros argued to the trial court that the 1983 Will’s direct devise to Carol in ITEM TWO must be revoked pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.4 (2021), which removes all provisions in a will in favor of a former spouse upon divorce.”
Parks v. Johnson, 870 S.E.2d 290 (N.C. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 15× “¶8 The Magestros argued to the trial court that the 1983 Will’s direct devise to Carol in ITEM TWO must be revoked pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.4 (2021), which removes all provisions in a will in favor of a former spouse upon divorce.”
In re: Magestro (N.C. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 5× “Magestro’s estate through application of Sections 31-5.4 and 31-42(b) of our General Statutes.”
In re: Magestro (N.C. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 5× “Magestro’s estate through application of Sections 31-5.4 and 31-42(b) of our General Statutes.”
Brown v. Brown, 524 S.E.2d 89 (N.C. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.4 . Distributing property pursuant to either the law of wills or the Intestate Succession Act after an equitable distribution order has been entered without a divorce would almost certainly trivialize the effort and resources put into entering the…”
In Re Se. Eye Ctr. (Pending Matters), 2021 Ncbc 27a (N.C. Bus. Ct. 2021). · cites it 2× “]G.S. 31-5.4 revoking the provisions in a will in favor of the testator’s former spouse upon the dissolution of the marriage by absolute divorce or annulment.”
Ward v. Fogel (N.C. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 31-5.4 (2013). In contrast, the commentary to the Restatement (Second) of Trusts illustrates the types of divorce clauses that may contravene public policy.”
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.