Title 62, South Carolina Probate Code

(A)(1) Upon filing of an application with the appointing court, the protected person, the conservator, or interested person may request an order: (a) requiring, increasing, or reducing bond or security; (b) requiring an accounting; (c) terminating a conservatorship when the estat…

(A) A person indebted to a protected person, or having possession of property of or an instrument evidencing a debt, stock, or chose in action belonging to a protected person may pay or deliver to a conservator, guardian of the estate, or other like fiduciary appointed by a court…

(A) If a conservator has not been appointed in this State and a petition for a protective order is not pending in this State, a conservator appointed in another state, after giving notice to the appointing court of an intent to register, may register the protective order in this …

(A) For purposes of this section: (1) "Estate" and "income" include only monies received from the VA, all real and personal property acquired in whole or in part with these monies, and all earnings, interest, and profits. (2) "Benefits" means all monies payable by the United Stat…

(A) The court has authority to create and establish a special needs trust for an incapacitated individual in compliance with 42 U.S.C. Section 1396p(d)(4)(A), as amended, and to order the placement of the incapacitated individual's funds into such a trust or into a pooled trust i…

(A)(1) For purposes of this section and for any claim exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars in favor of or against any minor or incapacitated individual, "court" means the circuit court of the county in which the minor or incapacitated individual resides or the circuit court in …

This part may be cited as the "South Carolina Statutory Health Care Power of Attorney Act".

As used in this part: (1) "Agent" or "health care agent" means an individual designated in a health care power of attorney to make health care decisions on behalf of a principal. (2) "Declaration of a desire for a natural death" or "declaration" means a document executed in accor…

(a) A health care power of attorney is a durable power of attorney. Statutory provisions that refer to a durable power of attorney or judicial interpretations of the law relating to durable powers of attorney apply to a health care power of attorney to the extent that they are no…

(a) A health care power of attorney must: (1) be substantially in the form set forth in Section 62-5-504; (2) be dated and signed by the principal or in the principal's name by another person in the principal's presence and by his direction; (3) be signed by at least two persons,…

A health care power of attorney executed on or after January 1, 2007, must be substantially in the following form: INFORMATION ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT THIS IS AN IMPORTANT LEGAL DOCUMENT. BEFORE SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT, YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE IMPORTANT FACTS: 1. THIS DOCUMENT GIVES THE …

A health care agent has, in addition to the powers set forth in the health care power of attorney, the following specific powers to: (1) have access to the principal's medical records and information to the same extent that the principal would have access, including the right to …

(a) The agent is not entitled to compensation for services performed under the health care power of attorney, but the agent is entitled to reimbursement for all reasonable expenses incurred as a result of carrying out the health care power of attorney or the authority granted by …

If a principal has been diagnosed as pregnant, life-sustaining procedures may not be withheld or withdrawn pursuant to the health care power of attorney during the course of the principal's pregnancy. This subsection does not otherwise affect the agent's authority to make decisio…

A health care provider or nursing care provider having knowledge of the principal's health care power of attorney has a duty to follow directives of the agent that are consistent with the health care power of attorney to the same extent as if they were given by the principal. If …

An agent acting pursuant to a health care power of attorney shall make decisions concerning the principal's health care in accordance with the principal's directives in the health care power of attorney and with any other statements of intent by the principal that are known to th…

(a) A person who relies in good faith upon a person's representation that he is the person named as agent in a health care power of attorney is not subject to civil or criminal liability or disciplinary action for recognizing the agent's authority. (b) A health care provider or n…

(a) The principal may appoint one or more successor agents in the health care power of attorney in the event an agent dies, becomes legally disabled, resigns, refuses to act, is unavailable, or, if the agent is the spouse of the principal, becomes divorced or separated from the p…

(a) A health care power of attorney may be revoked in the following ways: (1) by a writing, an oral statement, or any other act constituting notification by the principal to the agent or to a health care provider responsible for the principal's care of the principal's specific in…

(a) The execution and effectuation of a health care power of attorney does not constitute suicide for any purpose. (b) A person may not be required to sign a health care power of attorney in accordance with this section as a condition for coverage under an insurance contract or f…

If a person coerces or fraudulently induces another person to execute a health care power of attorney, falsifies or forges a health care power of attorney, or wilfully conceals, cancels, obliterates, or destroys a revocation of a health care power of attorney, and the principal d…

Nothing in this part prohibits a person from informing another person of the existence of this part, delivering to another person a copy of this part or a form for a health care power of attorney, or counseling another person in good faith concerning the execution of a health car…

(a) If a person wilfully conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages a health care power of attorney without the principal's consent, or falsifies or forges a revocation of a health care power of attorney, or otherwise prevents the implementation of the principal's wishes…

(a) A document or writing containing the following provisions is deemed to comply with the requirements of this part: (1) the name and address of the person who meets the requirements of Section 62-5-503 and is authorized to make health care related decisions if the principal bec…

The validity of a durable power of attorney that authorizes an attorney to make health care decisions regarding the principal which is properly executed pursuant to this part before or after the effective date of this act is not affected by the amendments contained in this act.

This act may be cited as the "South Carolina Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act".

Notwithstanding another provision of law, this part provides the exclusive jurisdictional basis for a court of this State to appoint a guardian or issue a protective order for an adult.

In addition to the terms defined in Part 1, Article 5, Title 62, the following terms, as used in the part, apply: (1) "Court" means a probate court in this State or a court in another state with the same jurisdiction as a probate court in this State. (2) "Guardianship order" mean…

The court may treat a foreign country as if it were a state for the purpose of applying this part.

(A) The court may communicate with a court in another state concerning a proceeding arising pursuant to this article. The court shall allow the parties to participate in a discussion between courts on the merits of a proceeding. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (B), the…

(A) In a guardianship or protective proceeding in this State, the court may request the appropriate court of another state to do any of the following: (1) hold an evidentiary hearing; (2) order a person in that state to produce evidence or give testimony pursuant to procedures of…

(A) In a guardianship or protective proceeding, in addition to other procedures that may be available, testimony of a witness who is located in another state may be offered by deposition or other means allowable in this State for testimony taken in another state. The court on its…

The court has jurisdiction to appoint a guardian or issue a protective order for an alleged incapacitated individual if: (A) this State is the alleged incapacitated individual's home state; (B) on the date the petition is filed, this State is a significant-connection state; and (…

(A) The court lacking jurisdiction pursuant to Sections 62-5-707 (A) through (C) has special jurisdiction to do any of the following: (1) appoint a guardian in an emergency pursuant to this article for a term not exceeding ninety days for an alleged incapacitated individual who i…

Except as otherwise provided in Section 62-5-708, a court that has appointed a guardian or issued a protective order consistent with this article has exclusive and continuing jurisdiction over the proceeding until it is terminated by the court or the appointment or order has expi…

(A) The court having jurisdiction pursuant to Section 62-5-707 to appoint a guardian or issue a protective order may decline to exercise its jurisdiction if it determines at any time that a court of another state is a more appropriate forum. (B) If the court declines to exercise …

(A) If at any time the court determines that it acquired jurisdiction to appoint a guardian or issue a protective order because of unjustifiable conduct, the court may: (1) decline to exercise jurisdiction; (2) exercise jurisdiction for the limited purpose of fashioning an approp…

If a petition for the appointment of a guardian or issuance of a protective order is brought in this State and this State was not the alleged incapacitated individual's home state on the date the petition was filed, in addition to complying with the notice requirements of this St…

Except for a petition for the appointment of a guardian in an emergency or issuance of a protective order limited to property located in this State pursuant to Section 62-5-708(A)(1) or (2), if a petition for the appointment of a guardian or issuance of a protective order is file…

(A) A guardian or conservator appointed in this State may petition the court to transfer the guardianship or conservatorship to another state. (B) Notice of a petition pursuant to subsection (A) must be given to the persons that would be entitled to notice of a petition in this S…

(A) To confirm transfer of a guardianship or conservatorship to this State under provisions similar to Section 62-5-714, the guardian or conservator must petition the court in this State to accept the guardianship or conservatorship. The petition must include a copy of the other …

(A) If a guardian has been appointed in another state and a petition for the appointment of a guardian is not pending in this State, the guardian appointed in the other state, after giving notice to the appointing court of an intent to register, may register the guardianship orde…