{
  "id": 8548751,
  "name": "IN THE MATTER OF: THE ESTATE OF JAMES L. BROWN",
  "name_abbreviation": "In re the Estate of Brown",
  "decision_date": "1979-02-20",
  "docket_number": "No. 7820SC335",
  "first_page": "61",
  "last_page": "63",
  "citations": [
    {
      "type": "official",
      "cite": "40 N.C. App. 61"
    }
  ],
  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.",
    "id": 14983,
    "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals"
  },
  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 5,
    "name_long": "North Carolina",
    "name": "N.C."
  },
  "cites_to": [],
  "analysis": {
    "cardinality": 241,
    "char_count": 5058,
    "ocr_confidence": 0.839,
    "sha256": "23aa5273cb8547e98e48821cb6374fa48019ef276ea852c97883e85c12632a55",
    "simhash": "1:752e6b7026338c33",
    "word_count": 855
  },
  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T20:01:10.825727+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Judges Parker and Arnold concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "IN THE MATTER OF: THE ESTATE OF JAMES L. BROWN"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "WEBB, Judge.\nG.S. 30-15 provides:\n\u201cEvery surviving spouse of-an intestate or of a testator, whether or not he has dissented from the will, shall, unless he has forfeited his right thereto as provided by law, be entitled, out of the personal property of the deceased spouse, to an allowance of the value of two thousand dollars ($2,000) for his support for one year after the death of the deceased spouse. Such allowance shall be exempt from any lien, by judgment or execution, acquired against the property of the deceased spouse, and shall, in cases of testacy, be charged against the share of the surviving spouse.\u201d\nThe parties have cited no case and we can find none controlling the decision in this case. We believe the plain words of the statute control. The statute provides that the surviving spouse shall be entitled to property worth $2,000.00 from the \u201cpersonal property of the deceased spouse.\u201d The appellant contends the insurance proceeds and funds paid to appellee from the joint bank account shall be included in this allowance. We cannot so hold. The proceeds from the insurance policy were paid to appellee in accordance with her rights under the insurance contract. This was not the \u201cpersonal property of the deceased spouse.\u201d The proceeds from the joint bank account were paid to her under the terms of the contract setting up the account. This was also her property and not the \u201cpersonal property of the deceased spouse.\u201d\nIn this case the fact that the deceased has left a will, under the terms of which his widow did not receive property from his estate, has created some confusion. The statute provides that when there is testacy the surviving spouse\u2019s allowance shall \u201cbe charged against the share of the surviving spouse.\u201d The appellant contends that the surviving spouse cannot take a greater amount than she received under the will. We do not believe the General Assembly intended that if the testator left a will under the terms of which the surviving spouse received nothing from his personal property, that the spouse was deprived of an allowance. Nor do we believe the General Assembly intended that if the deceased left a will under the terms of which the surviving spouse received only what she would have received by law as her own property, that the surviving spouse is deprived of an allowance from the deceased\u2019s personal property. We hold in this case that James L. Brown, having left a will under the terms of which his surviving spouse did not receive any legacy from his personal property, she can take her allowance out of his personal property, which would not include the proceeds from the insurance policy or her share of the joint bank account.\nAffirmed.\nJudges Parker and Arnold concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "WEBB, Judge."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Seawell, Pollock, Fullenwider, Robbins and May, by P. Wayne Robbins, for respondent appellant.",
      "Johnson, Poole and Webster, by W. Terrell Webster, Jr., for petitioner appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "IN THE MATTER OF: THE ESTATE OF JAMES L. BROWN\nNo. 7820SC335\n(Filed 20 February 1979)\nExecutors and Administrators \u00a7 23\u2014 widow\u2019s year\u2019s allowance \u2014 life insurance and joint bank account proceeds\nProceeds of a life insurance policy and a joint bank account paid to a widow were not chargeable against the widow\u2019s year\u2019s allowance under G.S. 30-15, notwithstanding the deceased left a will under the terms of which the widow did not receive any property from the estate.\nAPPEAL by respondent executor from McConnell, Judge. Judgment entered 14 November 1977 in Superior Court, MOORE County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 19 January 1979.\nThis is an appeal from an order determining that the proceeds of a life insurance policy and the surviving spouse\u2019s portion of a joint bank account with right of survivorship are not a part of the surviving spouse\u2019s year\u2019s allowance.\nAt the death of James L. Brown, his widow, Lauretta L. Brown, received $2,694.98 as beneficiary of an insurance policy on the life of James L. Brown and $825.00 as her share of a joint bank account with right of survivorship which she had owned with her late husband. By his will, James L. Brown gave to Lauretta L. Brown one-sixth of his net estate with the direction that any property passing to her by right of survivorship and any proceeds of life insurance policies be included in his estate for the purpose of calculating her share. The proceeds of the life insurance policy and the funds received by Lauretta L. Brown exceeded one-sixth of the decedent\u2019s net estate. Lauretta L. Brown did not dissent from the will, but made application for a year\u2019s allowance which was allowed by a magistrate from funds of the estate which did not include the proceeds from the insurance policy or the joint bank account. On appeal to the superior court, Judge McConnell held, as had the magistrate, that the proceeds of the life insurance policy and the funds from the joint bank account were not properly charged against Lauretta L. Brown\u2019s year\u2019s allowance and ordered the executor to pay $2,000.00 to Lauretta L. Brown from assets of the estate. The executor appealed to this Court.\nSeawell, Pollock, Fullenwider, Robbins and May, by P. Wayne Robbins, for respondent appellant.\nJohnson, Poole and Webster, by W. Terrell Webster, Jr., for petitioner appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0061-01",
  "first_page_order": 89,
  "last_page_order": 91
}
