Senate Bill 50 Summary

• Creates "living probate" for trusts allowing North Carolina residents to petition Superior Court during their lifetime to judicially establish validity of revocable trusts, with court judgment binding all parties and barring future challenges once trust becomes irrevocable.

• Enables courts to order single protective arrangements or transactions for minors and incompetent persons without appointing a full guardian, including property sales, trust funding, annuity contracts, and establishment of ABLE accounts.

• Modifies trust and estate proceeding rules by clarifying venue requirements, increasing response time from 10 to 20 days in trust proceedings, and establishing that lack of objection to improper venue does not affect proceeding validity.

• Restricts attorney fee awards in trust validity proceedings to only parties with reasonable grounds for contesting, and clarifies appeals process for trust and estate matters determined by clerk of superior court.

• Revises powers of appointment law to permit creation of nongeneral powers in permissible appointees and to allow holders of nongeneral powers to create new nongeneral powers with specified beneficiary parameters.