§ 28A-21-3.1. Phase II tobacco grower and quota owner payments; list of Phase II distributees.
§ 28A‑21‑3.1. Phase II tobacco grower and quota owner payments; list of Phase IIdistributees.
(a) The followingdefinitions apply in this section:
(1) "NationalTobacco Grower Settlement Trust" means the trust established by tobaccocompanies to provide payments to tobacco growers and tobacco quota owners in 14states for the purposes of ameliorating potential adverse economic consequencesof likely reduction in demand, sales, and prices for tobacco as an agriculturalproduct as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement incorporated in theconsent decree entered in the action of State of North Carolina vs. PhilipMorris, Incorporated, et al., 98 CVS 14377, in the General Court of Justice,Superior Court Division, Wake County, North Carolina.
(2) "Phase IIpayment" means an amount certified by the North Carolina Phase II TobaccoCertification Entity, Inc., to be paid pursuant to the trust agreementestablishing the National Tobacco Grower Settlement Trust.
(b) A personalrepresentative or collector of the estate of a decedent who, during 1993 or anysubsequent year, was a tobacco grower or a tobacco quota owner as defined inSection 4.01 of the trust agreement establishing the National Tobacco GrowerSettlement Trust may file, along with a final account, a list of Phase IIdistributees for Phase II payments if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) There are nounsatisfied creditors.
(2) There are nounsatisfied general monetary bequests.
(3) All assets otherthan any potential Phase II payments have been distributed.
(c) A list of Phase IIdistributees, signed under oath, must contain the following information:
(1) The name and addressof the personal representative or collector.
(2) The name and socialsecurity number of the decedent.
(3) The name andaddress, if known, of each devisee or heir entitled to receive Phase IIpayments and the percentage of Phase II payments to be received by each.
(d) The clerk ofsuperior court must review the list of Phase II distributees to determine ifthe list of distributees and their shares of potential Phase II payments are inaccordance with the will or, if there is no will, in accordance with theIntestate Succession Act. If the clerk accepts the list of Phase IIdistributees for filing, the clerk must endorse the clerk's approval thereon,which shall be prima facie evidence of correctness.
(e) Upon determinationby the North Carolina Phase II Tobacco Certification Entity, Inc., that theestate of a decedent entitled to any Phase II payment covering a time period whenthe decedent was alive has been closed, the payment may be paid directly tothose distributees and in those shares set forth on a list of Phase IIdistributees filed under this section without the estate's having to bereopened under G.S. 28A‑23‑5.
(f) The estate of adecedent who is entitled to any Phase II payment may be reopened, if necessary,in accordance with G.S. 28A‑23‑5 in order to file a list of PhaseII distributees under this section.
(g) For purposes ofthis section, Phase II payments covering a time period when decedent was aliveare deemed cash and shall not pass by virtue of any devise or inheritance ofthe decedent's real property. (2003‑295, s. 2.)