2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 31-39. Probate necessary to pass title; recordation in county where land lies; rights of innocent purchasers.

§ 31‑39.  Probate necessary to pass title; recordation in county where land lies; rights of innocent purchasers.

No will shall be effectual to pass real or personal estate unless it shall have been duly proved and allowed in the probate court of the proper county, and a duly certified copy thereof shall be recorded in the office of the superior court clerk of the county wherein the land is situate, and the probate of a will devising real estate shall be conclusive as to the execution thereof against the heirs and devisees of the testator, whenever the probate thereof under the like cirumstances, would be conclusive against the next of kin and legatees of the testator: Provided, that the probate and registration  of any will shall not affect the rights of innocent purchasers for value from the heirs at law of the testator when such purchase is made more than two years after the death of such testator or when such purchase is made after the filing of the final account by the duly authorized administrator of the decedent and the approval thereof by the clerk of the superior court having jurisdiction of the estate. Such conveyances, if made before the expiration of the time required by this section to have elapsed in order for same to be valid against  the heirs and devisees of the testator, shall, upon the expiration of  such time, become good and valid to the same effect as if made after the expiration of such time, unless in the meantime a proceeding shall have been instituted in the proper court to probate the will of the testator. (1784, c. 225, s. 6; R.C., c. 119, s. 20; Code, s. 2174; Rev., s. 3139; 1915, c. 219; C.S., s. 4163; 1953, c. 920, s. 1.)