Title 62, South Carolina Probate Code

(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…

In this subpart: (1) "Account" means a contract of deposit between a depositor and a financial institution, and includes a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit, share account, and other like arrangements. (2) "Agent" means a person authorized to make account …

This article does not apply to: (i) an account established for a partnership, joint venture, or other organization for a business purpose, (ii) an account controlled by one or more persons as an agent or trustee for a corporation, unincorporated association, or charitable or civi…

(a) An account may be for a single party or multiple parties. A multiple-party account may be with or without a right of survivorship between the parties. Subject to Section 62-6-202(c), either a single-party account or a multiple-party account may have a POD designation, an agen…

(a) A contract of deposit that contains provisions in substantially the following form establishes the type of account provided, and the account is governed by the provisions of this subpart applicable to an account of that type: UNIFORM SINGLE-OR MULTIPLE-PARTY ACCOUNT FORM PART…

By a writing signed by all parties, the parties may designate as agent of all parties on an account a person other than a party. Unless the terms of an agency designation provide that the authority of the agent terminates on disability or incapacity of a party, the agent's author…

The provisions of Part 2 concerning beneficial ownership as between parties or as between parties and beneficiaries apply only to controversies between those persons and their creditors and other successors, and do not apply to the right of those persons to payment as determined …

(A) During the lifetime of all parties, an account belongs to the parties in proportion to the net contribution of each to the sums on deposit, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intent. (B) A beneficiary in an account having a POD designation has no rig…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subpart, on death of a party sums on deposit in a multiple-party account belong to the surviving party or parties. If two or more parties survive and one is the surviving spouse of the decedent, the amount to which the decedent, immediatel…

(a) Rights at death of a party under Section 62-6-202 are determined by the terms of the account at the death of the party. A party may alter the terms of the account by a notice signed by the party and given to the financial institution to change the terms of the account or to s…

A transfer resulting from the application of Section 62-6-202 is effective by reason of the terms of the account involved and this part and is not testamentary or subject to Articles 1 through 4 (estate administration) unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the deceas…

Subject to the provisions contained in Section 62-3-916, no multiple-party account is effective against an estate of a deceased party to transfer to a survivor sums needed to pay debts, taxes, and expenses of administration, if other assets of the estate are insufficient. A survi…

A financial institution may enter into a contract of deposit for a multiple-party account to the same extent it may enter into a contract of deposit for a single-party account, and may provide for a POD designation and an agency designation in either a single-party account or a m…

A financial institution, on request, may pay sums on deposit in a multiple-party account: (1) to one or more of the parties, whether or not another party is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when payment is requested and whether or not the party making the request survives ano…

A financial institution, on request, may pay sums on deposit in an account with a POD designation: (1) to one or more of the parties, whether or not another party is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when the payment is requested and whether or not a party survives another par…

A financial institution, on request of an agent under an agency designation for an account, may pay to the agent sums on deposit in the account, whether or not a party is disabled, incapacitated, or deceased when the request is made or received, and whether or not the authority o…

If a financial institution is required or permitted to make payment pursuant to this part to a minor designated as a beneficiary, payment shall be made as ordered by the court or may be made in accordance with Section 62-5-103.

(a) Payment made pursuant to this subpart in accordance with the terms of the account discharges the financial institution from all claims for amounts so paid, whether or not the payment is consistent with the beneficial ownership of the account as between parties, beneficiaries,…

Without qualifying any other statutory right to set-off or lien and subject to any contractual provision, if a party to a multiple-party account is indebted to a financial institution, the financial institution has a right to set-off against the account in which the party has or …

(A) In addition to such other methods for registering and titling titled personal property as permitted in Title 50 and Title 56, any owner of a vehicle, mobile home, watercraft, outboard motor, or any similar personal property for which legal titles are issued and administered b…

(a) A violation by a trustee of a duty the trustee owes to a beneficiary is a breach of trust. (b) To remedy a breach of trust that has occurred or may occur, the court may: (1) compel the trustee to perform the trustee's duties; (2) enjoin the trustee from committing a breach of…

(a) A trustee who commits a breach of trust is liable to the beneficiaries affected for the greater of: (1) the amount required to restore the value of the trust property and trust distributions to what they would have been had the breach not occurred; or (2) the profit the trust…

(a) A trustee is accountable to an affected beneficiary for any profit made by the trustee arising from the administration of the trust, even absent a breach of trust. (b) Absent a breach of trust, a trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in the value o…

In a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, the court, as justice and equity may require, may award costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, to any party, to be paid by another party or from the trust that is the subject of the controversy.

(a) Unless previously barred by adjudication, consent, or limitation, a beneficiary may not commence a proceeding against a trustee for breach of trust more than one year after the date the beneficiary or a representative of the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately discl…

(A) If a trust instrument provides that a trustee is to follow the direction of a trust protector and the trustee acts in accordance with such direction, then except in cases of wilful misconduct on the part of the trustee so directed, the trustee is not liable directly or indire…

(A) If a trust instrument provides that a trustee is to follow the direction of a trust investment advisor, and the trustee acts in accordance with such a direction, then except in cases of wilful misconduct on the part of the trustee so directed, the trustee is not liable direct…

A trustee who acts in reasonable reliance on the terms of the trust as expressed in the trust instrument is not liable to a beneficiary for a breach of trust to the extent the breach resulted from the reliance.

If the happening of an event, including marriage, divorce, performance of educational requirements, or death, affects the administration or distribution of a trust, a trustee who has exercised reasonable care to ascertain the happening of the event is not liable for a loss result…

A term of a trust relieving a trustee of liability for breach of trust is unenforceable to the extent that it: (a) relieves the trustee of liability for breach of trust committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the purposes of the trust or the interests of the benef…

(a) A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for breach of trust if the beneficiary consented to the conduct constituting the breach, released the trustee from liability for the breach, or ratified the transaction constituting the breach, unless: (1) the consent, release, or rati…

This article may be cited as the South Carolina Trust Code. In this article, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, "Code" means the South Carolina Trust Code.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in the contract, a trustee is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in the trustee's fiduciary capacity in the course of administering the trust if the trustee in the contract disclosed the fiduciary capacity. (b) A trustee is …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) or unless personal liability is imposed in the contract, a trustee who holds an interest as a general partner in a general or limited partnership is not personally liable on a contract entered into by the partnership after the tr…

(a) A person other than a beneficiary who in good faith assists a trustee, or who in good faith and for value deals with a trustee, without knowledge that the trustee is exceeding or improperly exercising the trustee's powers is protected from liability as if the trustee properly…

(a) Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust containing the following information: (1) that the trust exists and the date the trust instrument was executed; (2) the id…

This article applies to express trusts, charitable or noncharitable, and trusts created pursuant to a statute, judgment, or decree that requires the trust to be administered in the manner of an express trust. The term 'express trust' includes both testamentary and inter vivos tru…

In this article: (1) "Action," with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act. (2) "Beneficiary" means a person that: (A) has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent; or (B) in a capacity other than that of trustee, holds a power o…

(a) Subject to subsection (b), a person has knowledge of a fact if the person: (1) has actual knowledge of it; (2) has received a notice or notification of it; or (3) from all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason to know it. (b) An o…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, this article governs the duties and powers of a trustee, relations among trustees, and the rights and interests of a beneficiary. (b) The terms of a trust prevail over any provision of this article except: (1) the requir…