AN ACT TO CONFORM THE LAW GOVERNING CO‑OWNERS WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP UNDER THE SIMULTANEOUS DEATH ACT TO THE LAW GOVERNING THE HOLDING OF UNEQUAL SHARES IN A JOINT TENANCY WITH RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE GENERAL STATUTES COMMISSION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 28A‑24‑3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 28A‑24‑3.  Co‑owners with right of survivorship; requirement of survival by 120 hours.

Except as otherwise provided in this Article:
(1)	If there are two or more co‑owners with right of survivorship and it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that at least one of them survived the other or others by at least 120 hours, then, unless the governing instrument provides otherwise, each co‑owner's pro rata interest in the property passes as if that co‑owner had survived all other co‑owners by at least 120 hours.
(2)	If there are two or more co‑owners with right of survivorship and it is established by clear and convincing evidence that at least one of them survived the other or others by at least 120 hours, then, unless the governing instrument provides otherwise, the pro rata interest or interests of the deceased owner or owners who are not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived by at least 120 hours passes to (i) the remaining owner if only one or (ii) if more than one, then to those remaining owners according to the pro rata interest of each."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 41‑2(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The interests of the grantees holding property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship shall be deemed to be equal unless otherwise specified in the conveyance. Any joint tenancy interest held by a husband and wife, unless otherwise specified, shall be deemed to be held as a single tenancy by the entirety, which shall be treated as a single party when determining interests in the joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Joint tenancy interests among two or more joint tenants holding property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship are subject to the provisions of G.S. 28A‑24‑3 upon the death of one or more of the joint tenants.
This subsection shall apply to any conveyance of an interest in property created at any time that explicitly sought to create unequal ownership interests in a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Distributions made prior to the enactment of this subsection that were made in equal amounts from a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship that sought to create unequal ownership shares shall remain valid and shall not be subject to modification on the basis of this subsection."
SECTION 3. This act is effective October 1, 2012.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 20th day of June, 2012.

	s/	 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Thom Tillis
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 Governor

Approved 4:10 p.m. this 26th day of June, 2012