Where does this leave me and what can I do if her death came very sudden and she did not leave a will?

You leave a lot out here. First, who is "she"? Who died? Your sister? When? Where did she live at the time of her death? NC? Somewhere else? Where is the real property at which you own jointly with the dead person? What does the deed say to the real property about who owns it? There are several possibilities here. Assuming that you owned the land jointly with your sister with a right of survivorship (the deed has to list you and your sister, as joint tenants with right of survivorship) then the land automatically passed to you as of the moment of death. In which case the land is all yours. If you and your sister did not own the land as joint tenants with a right of survivorship, then your sister's 1/2 of the land must go through probate. An estate will need probated for your sister in the county/state where she lived at the time of her death. If the land is located in another state, then an ancillary estate may need opened in the state where the land is located too. A personal representative (called an administrator since your sister had no will) will have to apply to the court. The personal representative's job will be to figure out what your sister owned and owed, pay off her debts and distribute what is left to her heirs. The sister's heirs would be a spouse, children or lineal descendants (grandchildren, great-granchildren); if none. then your parents if they are living; if there is no spouse, children or parents, then siblings. How many siblings are there other than you? Are there any dead siblings and did they have children? If so, they may share too. You mention that you loaned the sister money. if so, you will file a claim with the estate once its opened. How much is your sister's share of the land worth? Since you are owed money, the estate would have to pay your claim out of the assets. Depending on what the sister's share of the land is worth (assuming there is no joint tenancy with right of survivorship), the logical thing might be to sell your sister's 50% of the land to you for whatever its worth minus any monies owed to you by your sister. You mention that your sister died without a will. So what "agreement" could there be? Unless you have something in writing then any verbal agreement is not going to be enforceable as to how your sister may have wanted the land to pass. I do not know why people do not make wills but come up with all these creative ways to dispose of assets. Where land is concerned, creative agreements do not work. There has to be a writing and if people are disposing of assets in contemplation of death, that writing is called a will in most cases. So unless there is some kind of written agreement then whatever was supposedly "agreed" by your sister is a nullity. A promissory note is just a promise to pay money - it usually does not operate as a will to transfer an interest in property. If you are the best person to be the administrator of the estate, then you need to consult with a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where your sister lived at the time of her death. If someone else is the personal representative, then you need to find out (a) how the land was titled (check at the register/recorder of deeds in the county where the land is located and get a copy of the deed) and (b) file your claim for repayment of the loan with the estate and with the administrator. It still may be necessary to get your own probate lawyer if you are having difficulty communicating with the estate attorney or the administrator.