O'BRIEN v. Reece

MORRIS, Chief Judge.

The right of survivorship as a legal incident of joint tenancy, with a few exceptions, has been abolished in North Carolina. G.S. 41-2; Vettori v. Fay, 262 N.C. 481, 137 S.E. 2d 810 (1964). Although the common law deemed valid, as an exception to this rule, oral as well as written contracts making the rights of parties dependent on survivorship, Jones v. Waldroup, 217 N.C. 178, 7 S.E. 2d 366 (1940); Taylor v. Smith, 116 N.C. 531, 21 S.E. 202 (1895), the General Assembly has statutorily required the parties to sign a written agreement expressly providing for the right of…