N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-6
The executor or administrator of any deceased mortgagee or trustee in any mortgage or deed of trust heretofore or hereafter executed may renounce in writing, before the clerk of the superior court before whom he qualifies, the trust under the mortgage or deed of trust at the time he qualifies as executor or administrator, or at any time thereafter before he intermeddles with or exercises any of the duties under said mortgage or deed of trust, except to preserve the property until a trustee can be appointed. In every such case of renunciation the clerk of the superior court of any county wherein the said mortgage or deed of trust is registered has power and authority, upon proper proceedings instituted before him, as in other cases of special proceedings, to appoint some person to act as trustee and execute said mortgage or deed of trust. The clerk, in addition to recording his proceedings in his book of orders and decrees, shall record a separate instrument, as required by G.S. 161-14.1, containing the name of the substituted trustee or mortgagee, with the register of deeds of said county.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-6