Title 62, South Carolina Probate Code

A will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money and property used in trade or business. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended dispositi…

(A) The intention of a testator as expressed in the testator's will controls the legal effect of the testator's dispositions. The rules of construction expressed in the succeeding sections of this part apply unless a contrary intention is indicated by the will. (B) Notwithstandin…

A will is construed to pass all property which the testator owns at the testator's death including property acquired after the execution of the will and all property acquired by the testator's estate after the testator's death.

(A) Unless a contrary intent appears in the will, if a devisee, who is a great-grandparent or a lineal descendant of a great-grandparent of the testator is dead at the time of execution of the will, fails to survive the testator, or is treated as if he predeceased the testator, t…

(A) Except as provided in Section 62-2-603, if a devise other than a residuary devise fails for any reason it becomes a part of the residue. (B) Except as provided in Section 62-2-603 if the residue is devised to two or more persons, the share of the residuary devisees that fails…

(A) If the testator intended a specific devise of certain securities rather than the equivalent value thereof, the specific devisee is entitled only to: (1) as much of the devised securities as is a part of the testator's estate at the time of the testator's death; (2) any additi…

(a) A specific devisee has the right to the specifically devised property in the testator's estate at the testator's death and to: (1) any balance of the purchase price (together with any mortgage or other security interest) owed by a purchaser to the testator at the testator's d…

A specific devise passes subject to any mortgage, pledge, security interest or other lien existing at the date of death, without right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts.

A general residuary clause in a will, or a will making general disposition of all of the testator's property, does not exercise a power of appointment held by the testator unless specific reference is made to the power or there is some other indication of intention to include the…

Half bloods, adopted persons, and persons born out of wedlock are included in class gift terminology and terms of relationship in accordance with rules for determining relationships for purposes of intestate succession, but a person born out of wedlock is not treated as the child…

(a) Property which a testator gave in the testator's lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise to that person in whole or in part, only if: (i) the will provides for deduction of the lifetime gift; (ii) the testator declared in a contemporaneous writing that t…

A devise of land is construed to pass an estate in fee simple, regardless of the absence of words of limitation in the devise.

The personal representative, trustee, or any affected beneficiary under a will, trust, or other instrument of a decedent who dies or did die after December 31, 2009, and before January 1, 2011, may bring a proceeding to determine the decedent's intent when the will, trust, or oth…

A contract to make a will or devise, or to revoke a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after the effective date of this act, can be established only by (1) provisions of a will of the decedent stating material provisions of the con…

(a) This section applies to disclaimers of any interest in or power over property, whenever created, and, in addition to other methods, is the means by which a disclaimer may be made under the laws of this State. (b) For purpose of this section: (1) "Disclaimer" means any writing…

(a) An individual who is divorced from the decedent or whose marriage to the decedent has been annulled is not a surviving spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent marriage, the individual is married to the decedent at the time of death. A decree of separate maintenance that does…

(a) An individual who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent is not entitled to any benefits under the decedent's will, trust of which the decedent is a grantor or under this article with respect to the decedent's estate, including, but not limited to, an intestate shar…

When any individual is seized or possessed of any real property held in joint tenancy at the time of the individual's death, the joint tenancy is deemed to have been severed by the death of the joint tenant and the real property is distributable as a tenancy in common unless the …

(A) For purposes of this article, tangible personal property in the joint possession or control of the decedent and the surviving spouse at the time of the decedent's death is presumed to be owned by the decedent and the decedent's spouse in joint tenancy with right of survivorsh…

To achieve the testator's tax objectives, the personal representative or any interested person may file a summons and petition requesting the court, after notice and a hearing, to issue an order modifying the terms of a testator's will in a manner not contrary to the testator's p…

(a) After the death of a testator, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver such will, within thirty days of actual notice or knowledge of the testator's death to the judge of the probate court having jurisdiction to admit the same or to a person named as p…