A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO UPDATE THE PRIORITY FUNERAL EXPENSE ALLOWANCE and the gravestone authorization IN PROBATE PROCEEDINGS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 28A‑19‑6(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	After payment of costs and expenses of administration, the claims against the estate of a decedent must be paid in the following order:
First class. Claims which by law have a specific lien on property to an amount not exceeding the value of such property.
Second class. Funeral expenses to the extent of five thousand dollars ($5,000). This limitation shall not include cemetery lot or gravestone. The preferential limitation herein granted shall be construed to be only a limit with respect to preference of payment and shall not be construed to be a limitation on reasonable funeral expenses which may be incurred; nor shall the preferential limitation of payment in the amount of  five thousand dollars ($5,000) be diminished by any Veterans Administration, social security or other federal governmental benefits awarded to the estate of the decedent or to his or her beneficiaries.
Third class. All dues, taxes, and other claims with preference under the laws of the United States.
Fourth class. All dues, taxes, and other claims with preference under the laws of the State of North Carolina and its subdivisions.
Fifth class. Judgments of any court of competent jurisdiction within the State, docketed and in force, to the extent to which they are a lien on the property of the decedent at his death.
Sixth class. Wages due to any employee employed by the decedent, which claim for wages shall not extend to a period of more than 12 months next preceding the death; or if such employee was employed for the year current at the decease, then from the time of such employment; for medical services within the 12 months preceding the decease; for drugs and all other medical supplies necessary for the treatment of such decedent during the last illness of such decedent, said period of last illness not to exceed 12 months.
Seventh class. A claim for equitable distribution.
Eighth class. All other claims."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 28A-19-9 reads as rewritten:
"§ 28A‑19‑9.  Gravestone authorized.
It is lawful for personal representatives to provide suitable gravestones to mark the graves of their testators or intestates, and to pay for the cost of erecting the same and the cost thereof shall be paid as funeral expenses and credited as such in final accounts. The costs thereof shall be in the sound discretion of the personal representative, having due regard to the value of the estate and to the interests of creditors and needs of the surviving spouse and the heirs and devisees of the estate. Where the personal representative desires to spend more than  one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) for such purpose, and the will does not grant specific authority to the personal representative for such expenditures in excess of  one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), he shall file his petition before the clerk of the court, and such order as will be made by the court shall specify the amount to be expended for such purpose. Provided, however, that if the net estate is of a value in excess of  seventy‑five thousand dollars ($75,000), the personal representative may, in his discretion, expend not more than  three thousand dollars ($3,000) for this purpose without securing the order of the court required herein. If the estate is of a value in excess of  seventy‑five thousand ($75,000) and the personal representative desires to spend more than  three thousand dollars ($3,000) for such purpose, and the will does not grant specific authority for such expenditure he shall file his petition and secure the order of the court herein required before expending funds for such purpose. However, in no event may more than  three thousand dollars ($3,000) be accounted as gravestone marker cost to be credited as a funeral expense in the final accounts."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2009, and applies to estates of persons dying on or after that date.