A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to combine the second and third classes of claims against the estate of a decedent and to combine the allowable amounts for funeral expenses, gravestones, and a burial place to equal five thousand dollars.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 28A‑19‑6(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 28A‑19‑6.  Order of payment of claims.
(a)	After payment of costs and expenses of administration, the claims against the estate of a decedent must be paid in the following order:
(1)	Claims which by law have a specific lien on property to an amount not exceeding the value of such property.
(2)	Funeral expenses, costs associated with gravestones, and reasonable costs for the purchase of a suitable burial place as provided in G.S. 28A‑19‑9 to the extent of five thousand dollars ($5,000). 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 expenses which may be incurred; nor shall the preferential limitation of payment be diminished by any Veterans Administration, social security or other federal governmental benefits awarded to the estate of the decedent or to the decedent's beneficiaries.

(3)	All dues, taxes, and other claims with preference under the laws of the United States.
(4)	All dues, taxes, and other claims with preference under the laws of the State of North Carolina and its subdivisions.
(5)	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 the decedent's death. The Department of Health and Human Services is a creditor under this subdivision for purposes of determining the order of claims against the estate; provided, however, that judgments in favor of other creditors under this subdivision docketed and in force before the Department seeks recovery for medical assistance shall be paid prior to recovery by the Department.
(6)	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.
(7)	A claim for equitable distribution.
(8)	All other claims."
SECTION 1.(b)  G.S. 28A‑19‑9 reads as rewritten:
"§ 28A‑19‑9.  Gravestone and burial place authorized.
(a)	If the decedent has duly appointed a health care agent pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 32A of the General Statutes to provide for these expenses, the health care agent may make arrangements to provide a suitable gravestone to mark the grave of the testator or intestate, and the personal representative shall reimburse the health care agent subject to the monetary limitations and procedures contained in this section. If the decedent did not have a health care agent, or if the health care agent does not act, it is lawful for a personal representative or the decedent's duly appointed health care agent to provide a suitable gravestone to mark the graves of the testator or intestate and to pay for the cost of erecting the same. The cost thereof shall be treated as a claim under G.S. 28A‑19‑6 and credited as such in final accounts. The costs thereof shall be in the sound discretion of the personal representative or health care agent, 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 or health care agent desires to spend more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) for the purpose of a gravestone, 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), the personal representative shall file a 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. In specifying the amount, the clerk may consider the value of the estate. To the extent that the personal representative or health care agent advances the costs for providing a suitable gravestone to mark the graves of the testator or intestate and for erecting the same, the advancement shall be considered as an obligation of the decedent's estate, and the decedent's estate shall be primarily liable for the costs for providing a suitable gravestone to mark the graves of the testator or intestate and for erecting the same.
(b)	It is lawful for the decedent's duly appointed health care agent to provide a suitable burial place for the testator or intestate. If the decedent did not have a health care agent, or if the health care agent does not act, then the personal representative may provide a suitable burial place for the testator or intestate. The cost of a suitable burial place shall be in the sound discretion of the personal representative or the decedent's health care agent, 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, and shall be treated as a claim under G.S. 28A‑19‑6."
SECTION 1.(c)  G.S. 108A‑70.5(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The amount the Department recovers from the estate of any recipient shall not exceed the amount of medical assistance made on behalf of the recipient and shall be recoverable only for medical care services prescribed in subsection (b) of this section. The Department is a creditor, as prescribed in G.S. 28A‑19‑6, for purposes of determining the order of claims against an estate."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2017, and applies to estates of decedents dying on or after that date.