Title 63, South Carolina Children's Code

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "South Carolina Uniform Transfers to Minors Act".

In this article: (1) "Adult" means an individual who has attained the age of twenty-one years. (2) "Benefit plan" means an employer's plan for the benefit of an employee or partner or an individual retirement account. (3) "Broker" means a person lawfully engaged in the business o…

(a) This article applies to a transfer that refers to "The South Carolina Uniform Transfers to Minors Act" in the designation under Section 63-5-645(a) by which the transfer is made if at the time of the transfer, the transferor, the minor, or the custodian is a resident of this …

(a) A person having the right to designate the recipient of property transferable upon the occurrence of a future event may revocably nominate a custodian to receive the property for a minor beneficiary upon the occurrence of the event by naming the custodian followed in substanc…

A person may make a transfer by irrevocable gift to, or the irrevocable exercise of a power of appointment in favor of, a custodian for the benefit of a minor pursuant to Section 63-5-645.

(a) A personal representative or trustee may make an irrevocable transfer pursuant to Section 63-5-645 to a custodian for the benefit of a minor as authorized in the governing will or trust. (b) If the testator or settlor has nominated a custodian under Section 63-5-615 to receiv…

(a) Subject to subsection (c), a personal representative or trustee may make an irrevocable transfer to another adult or trust company as custodian for the benefit of a minor pursuant to Section 63-5-645, in the absence of a will or under a will or trust that does not contain an …

(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), a person not subject to Section 63-5-625 or 63-5-630 who holds property of or owes a liquidated debt to a minor not having a conservator may make an irrevocable transfer to a custodian for the benefit of the minor pursuant to Section 63-5-6…

A written acknowledgment of delivery by a custodian constitutes a sufficient receipt and discharge for custodial property transferred to the custodian pursuant to this article.

(a) Custodial property is created and a transfer is made whenever: (1) an uncertificated security or a certificated security in registered form is either: (i) registered in the name of the transferor, an adult other than the transferor, or a trust company, followed in substance b…

A transfer may be made only for one minor, and only one person may be the custodian. All custodial property held under this article by the same custodian for the benefit of the same minor constitutes a single custodianship.

(a) The validity of a transfer made in a manner prescribed in this article is not affected by: (1) failure of the transferor to comply with Section 63-5-645(c) concerning possession and control; (2) designation of an ineligible custodian, except designation of the transferor in t…

(a) A custodian shall: (1) take control of custodial property; (2) register or record title to custodial property if appropriate; and (3) collect, hold, manage, invest, and reinvest custodial property. (b) In dealing with custodial property, a custodian shall observe the standard…

(a) A custodian, acting in a custodial capacity, has all the rights, powers, and authority over custodial property that unmarried adult owners have over their own property, but a custodian may exercise those rights, powers, and authority in that capacity only. (b) This section do…

(a) A custodian may deliver or pay to the minor or expend for the minor's benefit so much of the custodial property as the custodian considers advisable for the use and benefit of the minor, without court order and without regard to (i) the duty or ability of the custodian person…

(a) A custodian is entitled to reimbursement from custodial property for reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of the custodian's duties. (b) Except for one who is a transferor under Section 63-5-620, a custodian has a noncumulative election during each calendar year to…

A third person in good faith and without court order may act on the instructions of or otherwise deal with any person purporting to make a transfer or purporting to act in the capacity of a custodian and, in the absence of knowledge, is not responsible for determining: (1) the va…

(a) A claim based on (i) a contract entered into by a custodian acting in a custodial capacity, (ii) an obligation arising from the ownership or control of custodial property, or (iii) a tort committed during the custodianship, may be asserted against the custodial property by pr…

(a) A person nominated under Section 63-5-615 or designated under Section 63-5-645 as custodian may decline to serve by delivering a written renunciation to the person who made the nomination or to the transferor or the transferor's legal representative. If the event giving rise …

(a) A minor who has attained the age of fourteen years, the minor's guardian of the person or legal representative, an adult member of the minor's family, a transferor, or a transferor's legal representative may petition the court (i) for an accounting by the custodian or the cus…

(A) It is unlawful for a person who has charge or custody of a child, or who is the parent or guardian of a child, or who is responsible for the welfare of a child as defined in Section 63-7-20 to: (1) place the child at unreasonable risk of harm affecting the child's life, physi…

The custodian shall transfer in an appropriate manner the custodial property to the minor or to the minor's estate upon the earlier of: (1) the minor's attainment of twenty-one years of age with respect to custodial property transferred under Section 63-5-620 or 63-5-625; (2) the…

This article applies to a transfer within the scope of Section 63-5-610 made after its effective date if: (1) the transfer purports to have been made under the South Carolina Uniform Gifts to Minors Act; or (2) the instrument by which the transfer purports to have been made uses …

(a) Any transfer of custodial property as now defined in this article made before the effective date of this article is validated notwithstanding that there was no specific authority in the South Carolina Uniform Gifts to Minors Act for the coverage of custodial property of that …

This article shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this article among states enacting it.

Whoever cruelly ill-treats, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or inflicts unnecessary pain or suffering upon a child or causes the same to be done, whether the person is the parent or guardian or has charge or custody of the child, for every offense, is guilty of a mis…

This article may be cited as the "Military Parent Equal Protection Act".

For purposes of this article: (A)(1) In the case of a parent who is a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or a Reserve component of these services, "military service or service" means a deployment for combat operations, a contingency operation, or a na…

(A) If a military parent is required to be separated from a child due to military service, a court shall not enter a final order modifying the terms establishing custody or visitation contained in an existing order until ninety days after the military parent is released from mili…

(A) If a military parent is called to military service, either parent may file a notice of activation of military service and petition to modify a support order. In the petition, the parent must cite the basis for modifying the support order and the military parent's change in fi…

(A) Military necessity may preclude court adjudication before mobilization, and the parties are encouraged to negotiate mutually agreeable arrangements prior to mobilization. (B) The nonmilitary parent and the military parent shall cooperate with each other in an effort to reach …

In making determinations pursuant to this article, the court may award attorney's fees and costs based on the court's consideration of: (1) the failure of either party to reasonably accommodate the other party in custody, visitation, and support matters related to a military pare…

(A) Any intervention by the State into family life on behalf of children must be guided by law, by strong philosophical underpinnings, and by sound professional standards for practice. Child welfare services must be based on these principles: (1) Parents have the primary responsi…

(A) The Department of Social Services is authorized to receive and investigate reports of abuse and neglect of children who reside in or receive care or supervision in residential institutions, foster homes, qualified residential treatment programs, and childcare facilities. Resp…

The State Law Enforcement Division is authorized to receive and investigate reports of institutional abuse and neglect alleged to have occurred in any institution or foster home operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice and any institution or childcare facility operated by t…

When the investigation performed pursuant to this subarticle results in a determination that an individual has harmed a child or threatened a child with harm, as defined in Section 63-7-20, the name of that individual must be entered immediately in the Central Registry of Child A…

The purpose of this subarticle is to provide a child protective services appeals process for reports that have been indicated pursuant to Subarticles 5 and 13 and are not being brought before the family court for disposition and for reports indicated and entered in the Central Re…

If a person requests an appeal under this subarticle and the family court has determined that the person is responsible for abuse or neglect of the child, an appeal pursuant to this subarticle is not available. If the family court reaches such a determination after the initiation…

(A) If the department determines that a report of suspected child abuse or neglect is indicated and the department is not taking the case to the family court for disposition, or if the case was entered in the Central Registry pursuant to Section 63-7-1230 and the department is no…

An appellant seeking judicial review shall file a petition in the family court within thirty days after the final decision of the department. The appellant shall serve a copy of the petition upon the department. The family court shall conduct a judicial review in accordance with …

(A) The family court has exclusive jurisdiction over all proceedings held pursuant to this article. (B) The county in which the child resides is the legal place of venue.

In all child abuse and neglect proceedings: (1) Children must be appointed a guardian ad litem by the family court. A guardian ad litem serving on behalf of the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program or Richland County CASA must be represented by legal counsel in any judicial p…

The department shall provide notice of a hearing held in connection with an action filed or pursued under Subarticle 3 or Section 63-7-1650, 63-7-1660, 63-7-1670, 63-7-1680, 63-7-1700, or 63-7-2550 to the foster parent, the preadoptive parent, or the relative who is providing car…

(A)(1) When this chapter requires the department to make reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify a family and requires the family court to determine whether these reasonable efforts have been made, the child's health and safety must be the paramount concern. (2) Reasonable effo…

(A) Upon investigation of a report under Section 63-7-920 or at any time during the delivery of services by the department, the department may petition the family court for authority to intervene and provide protective services without removal of custody if the department determi…