A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that the Department of transportation is not required to serve or join spouses of property owners in condemnation actions and to make technical changes.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 136‑103 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136‑103.  Institution of action and deposit.
(a)	In case condemnation becomes necessary, the Department of Transportation shall institute a civil action by filing in the superior court of any county in which the land is located a complaint and a declaration of taking declaring that the land or an easement or interest in the land is thereby taken for the use of the Department. The Department is not required to serve or join spouses of persons with an interest in the land unless the spouse also has an interest in the land other than the possibility of a future election under G.S. 29‑30.
(b)	The declaration shall contain or have attached to it the following:
(1)	A statement of the authority under which and the public use for which the land is taken.
(2)	A description of the entire tract or tracts affected by the taking sufficient for the identification of it.
(3)	A statement of the estate or interest in the land taken for public use and a description of the area taken sufficient for the identification of it.
(4)	The names and addresses of those persons that the Department is informed and believes may have or claim to have an interest in the land, so far as can be ascertained by reasonable diligence. The Department shall state whether any persons are infants, non compos mentis, or under any other disability, or if any person's whereabouts or name is unknown. The Department is not required to include the names and addresses of persons whose only interest in the land is the possibility of a future election under G.S. 29‑30.
(5)	A statement of the sum of money estimated by the Department to be just compensation for the taking.
(c)	The complaint shall contain or have attached to it the following:
(1)	The information described in subdivisions (b)(1) through (b)(4) of this section.

	
(5)	A statement as to any liens or other encumbrances that the Department is informed and believes are encumbrances upon the land and can be ascertained by reasonable diligence.
(6)	A prayer that there be a determination of just compensation in accordance with this Article.
(d)	The filing of the complaint and the declaration of taking shall be accompanied by a deposit of the sum of money estimated by the Department to be just compensation for the taking. Upon the filing of the complaint, declaration, and deposit, summons shall be issued and together with a copy of the complaint, declaration, and notice of deposit shall be served upon the persons named in the complaint in accordance with G.S. 1A‑1, Rule 4. The Department may amend the complaint and declaration of taking and may increase the amount of its deposit with the court at any time while the proceeding is pending, and a person named in the complaint has the same rights of withdrawal of this additional amount as set forth in G.S. 136‑105."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 29‑30 reads as rewritten:
"§ 29‑30.  Election of surviving spouse to take life interest in lieu of intestate share provided.
(a)	Except as provided in this subsection, in lieu of the intestate share provided in G.S. 29‑14 or G.S. 29‑21, or of the elective share provided in G.S. 30‑3.1, the surviving spouse of an intestate or the surviving spouse who has petitioned for an elective share is entitled to take as the surviving spouse's intestate share or elective share a life estate in one third in value of all the real estate of which the deceased spouse was seised and possessed of an estate of inheritance at any time during the marriage. The surviving spouse is not entitled to take a life estate in any of the following circumstances:
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(3c)	Any real estate taken by the Department of Transportation in a condemnation action initiated before the deceased spouse's death.
…."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to condemnation actions initiated on or after that date.