How to Complete and File the North Carolina Year’s Allowance Form (AOC-E-100)

North Carolina’s year’s allowance form AOC-E-100 is how a surviving spouse or eligible child claims a statutory share of a deceased person’s personal property or cash before creditors and other beneficiaries are paid. For anyone who died on or after March 1, 2024, you file the updated version, now titled “Petition and Assignment Year’s Allowance,” with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the estate belongs.¹ A surviving spouse can claim up to $60,000; each eligible child can claim up to $10,000.² Once the clerk signs the assignment order, a certified copy lets banks, the DMV, and other institutions release the funds or transfer the titles directly to you.

Pick the Right Version of the Form

The date of death controls which form you use. Filing the wrong one will likely be rejected.

If the decedent died on or after March 1, 2024, use the “Petition and Assignment Year’s Allowance” (form number e100_5). This version reflects the $10,000 children’s allowance, the simplified eligibility rules, and the requirement for a verified petition filed with the clerk.¹

If the decedent died before March 1, 2024, use the older “Application and Assignment Year’s Allowance” (e100). Under the prior law the children’s allowance was $5,000 and a magistrate could handle the assignment.³

Both are posted on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website. Check the date of death first, then download.

Who Can File

Every surviving spouse is entitled to the $60,000 allowance, whether the decedent left a will or not, and whether or not the spouse has petitioned for an elective share. The way the allowance interacts with the rest of the estate differs though: in an intestate estate, the $60,000 is on top of what the spouse inherits; in a testate estate, it is charged against the spouse’s share under the will.²

A spouse loses the right if barred under Chapter 31A of the General Statutes. Disqualifying acts include voluntary separation and living in adultery, willful abandonment, a felony conviction related to the other spouse’s death, and a court finding of abandonment.⁴ A prenuptial agreement waiving the allowance also bars the claim. If any of these might apply, talk to a North Carolina estate attorney before filing.

For deaths on or after March 1, 2024, a child qualifies if they were under 21 at the parent’s death. That covers adopted children, children in utero, and children with whom the decedent stood in loco parentis.⁵ A guardian typically petitions on behalf of a minor.

One priority rule matters when both a spouse and a child file: the spouse’s full $60,000 is awarded before any child’s allowance comes out of the remaining personal property.⁶

Filling Out the Petition

The form is short, but getting the details right is what keeps the clerk from sending it back.

Start with the header: the decedent’s full legal name, the county administering the estate, and the estate file number if one has been opened. Enter the exact date of death. That date determines which law applies and starts the clock on your filing deadline.

Identify yourself as the petitioner and state your relationship to the decedent (surviving spouse, guardian of a minor child, and so on). The current form is a verified petition, meaning you sign under oath. A false statement carries legal consequences, so take the property values and descriptions seriously.

The property listing is the heart of the form. List each item of personal property or cash you want assigned, with enough detail to identify it and a value:

Bank accounts: name of the institution, type of account, and full account number.
Vehicles: year, make, model, VIN, and fair market value.
Other personal property: household goods, jewelry, tools, and similar items, described well enough to tell them apart from the rest of the estate, with estimated values.

The total cannot exceed your statutory cap. If a spouse lists $65,000 worth of property, the clerk will not approve the excess. Only personal property and cash qualify. Real estate cannot be assigned through the year’s allowance.⁶

Where to File and What It Costs

File the completed, verified petition with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where venue is proper under GS 28A-3-1, which is usually the county where the decedent lived at the time of death.⁷ For deaths on or after March 1, 2024, filing goes directly to the clerk; the old magistrate route no longer applies.

If a personal representative has already been appointed (an executor or administrator), you must deliver a copy of the verified petition to that person, either in person or by first-class mail.⁷ Skipping this step can delay the assignment.

There is a filing fee at the clerk’s counter. The amount varies by county, so call ahead and ask what they charge and what forms of payment they accept.

Deadlines

For deaths on or after March 1, 2024, there is no general time limit; you can file at any point during your lifetime. The exception is the one that catches people: if a personal representative has been appointed, you must file within six months after the letters testamentary or letters of administration are issued, or you lose the right to claim.²

There is also a timing consequence for spouses who wait. If a surviving spouse does not file within six months of the decedent’s death and an eligible child files first, the spouse waives priority over the child’s allowance. The clerk can then assign the child’s full allowance before reaching the spouse’s claim.² In blended families or estates with limited personal property, this matters. File promptly to keep the priority.

After the Clerk Signs

The clerk reviews the petition to confirm eligibility, adequate property descriptions, and that the total stays within the statutory cap. If everything checks out, the clerk enters an order awarding the allowance and specifying which items of personal property or cash accounts are assigned to you.⁷ A copy goes to the personal representative if one has been appointed.

Request certified copies before you leave the clerk’s office. The certified assignment is what you present to banks, the DMV, brokerage firms, or any other institution holding the assigned property. The form itself states that the certified copy “shall be sufficient to release the items listed as assigned to the surviving spouse or children.”³ Get one certified copy per institution you need to visit.

Priority Over Creditors

The year’s allowance jumps ahead of nearly everything else that could claim the estate. Both the spouse’s and the children’s allowances are exempt from any lien by judgment or execution against the decedent’s property and from any other claim made against or owed by the estate.⁶ A creditor the decedent owed $100,000 cannot block the surviving spouse from collecting the $60,000 allowance. Even if the estate is insolvent, the spouse and children receive their allowance from whatever personal property exists, and creditors absorb the shortfall.

If Someone Challenges the Award

Any person with standing, including the personal representative, can challenge a year’s allowance after the clerk enters the order. The challenge must be filed within one year of the order, and it proceeds as a contested estate proceeding under Chapter 28A.⁷ Challenges usually turn on disputed eligibility or inflated property values, which is why accurate descriptions and clear documentation of your relationship to the decedent are worth the extra care at the filing stage.

1
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Petition And Assignment Year’s Allowance (For Decedents Dying On Or After March 1, 2024)
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 30-15 – When Spouse Entitled to Allowance
3
North Carolina Judicial Branch. Application and Assignment Year’s Allowance
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 31A – Acts Barring Property Rights
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 30-17 – When Children Entitled to an Allowance
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 30 – Surviving Spouses
7
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 30 – Article 4