Title 62, South Carolina Probate Code

If any provision of this Code or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Code which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and to this end the provisi…

This Code is a general act intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter and no part of it shall be deemed impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if it can reasonably be avoided.

Whenever fraud has been perpetrated in connection with any proceeding or in any statement filed under this Code or if fraud is used to avoid or circumvent the provisions or purposes of this Code, any person injured thereby may: (i) obtain appropriate relief against the perpetrato…

In proceedings under this Code the South Carolina Rules of Evidence are applicable unless specifically displaced by the Code.

For the purpose of granting consent or approval with regard to the acts or accounts of a personal representative or trustee, including relief from liability or penalty for failure to post bond, or to perform other duties, and for purposes of consenting to modification or terminat…

Unless expressly provided otherwise in a written employment agreement, the creation of an attorney-client relationship between a lawyer and a person serving as a fiduciary shall not impose upon the lawyer any duties or obligations to other persons interested in the estate, trust …

Whenever an attorney-client relationship exists between a lawyer and a fiduciary, communications between the lawyer and the fiduciary shall be subject to the attorney-client privilege unless waived by the fiduciary, even though fiduciary funds may be used to compensate the lawyer…

In a formal proceeding, 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 estate that is the subject of the controversy.

The inherent power of the court to impose penalties for contempt extends to all filing requirements, proceedings, judgments, and orders of the court. The court has the power to grant a motion to proceed in forma pauperis.

Subject to additional definitions contained in the subsequent articles which are applicable to specific articles or parts, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this Code: (1) "Application" means a written request to the probate court for an order. An application does not…

Except as otherwise provided in this Code, this Code applies to (1) the affairs and estates of decedents, missing persons, and persons to be protected domiciled in this State, (2) the property of nonresidents located in this State or property coming into the control of a fiduciar…

(a) To the full extent permitted by the Constitution, and except as otherwise specifically provided, the probate court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all subject matter related to: (1) estates of decedents, including the contest of wills, construction of wills, determin…

(a) Subject to the provisions of Section 62-3-201, where a proceeding under this Code could be maintained in more than one place in South Carolina, the court in which the proceeding is first commenced has the exclusive right to proceed. (b) If proceedings concerning the same esta…

The South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure (SCRCP) adopted for the circuit court and other rules of procedure in this title govern formal proceedings pursuant to this title. A formal proceeding is a "civil action" as defined in Rule 2, SCRCP, and must be commenced as provided in…

The court shall keep a record for each decedent, ward, protected person, or trust involved in any document which may be filed with the court under this Code, including petitions and applications, demands for notices or bonds, and of any orders or responses relating thereto by the…

(a) If duly demanded, a party is entitled to trial by jury in any proceeding involving an issue of fact in an action for the recovery of money only or of specific real or personal property, unless waived as provided in the rules of civil procedure for the courts of this State. Th…

The acts and orders which this Code specifies as performable by the court may be performed either by the judge or by a person, including one or more clerks, designated by the judge by a written order filed and recorded in the office of the court.

Except as provided in subsection (1), appeals from the probate court must be to the circuit court and are governed by the following rules: (a) A person interested in a final order, sentence, or decree of a probate court may appeal to the circuit court in the same county, subject …

The judges of the probate court shall be elected by the qualified electors of the respective counties for the term of four years in the manner specified by Section 14-23-1020.

(a) If notice of a hearing on a petition is required and, except for specific notice requirements as otherwise provided, the petitioner shall cause notice of the time and place of hearing of a petition to be given to any interested person or his attorney if he has appeared by att…

A person, including a guardian ad litem, conservator, or other fiduciary, may waive notice by a writing signed by him or his attorney and filed in the proceeding.

In formal proceedings involving trusts or estates of decedents, minors, protected persons, or incapacitated persons and in judicially supervised settlements the following apply: (1) Interests to be affected must be described in pleadings that give reasonable information to owners…

This part may be cited as the "Uniform Simultaneous Death Act".

For purposes of this part: (1) "Co-owners with right of survivorship" includes joint tenants in a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, joint tenants in a tenancy in common with right of survivorship, tenants by the entireties, and other co-owners of property or accounts held…

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this Code, where the title to property, the devolution of property, the right to elect an interest in property, or any other right or benefit depends upon an individual's survivorship of the death of another individual, an individual who is not…

Except as otherwise provided by this Code, for purposes of a provision of a governing instrument that relates to an individual surviving an event, including the death of another individual, an individual who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived the…

Except as otherwise provided by this Code, if: (a) it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that one of two co-owners with right of survivorship survived the other co-owner by at least one hundred twenty hours, one-half of the property passes as if one had survived …

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Code, solely for the purpose of determining whether a decedent is entitled to any right or benefit that depends on surviving the death of a decedent's killer under Section 62-2-803, the killer is deemed to have predeceased the decedent,…

Survival by one hundred twenty hours is not required if any of the following apply: (1) the governing instrument contains language dealing explicitly with simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster and that language is operable under the facts of the case; (2) the governi…

In addition to the South Carolina Rules of Evidence, the following rules relating to a determination of death and status apply: (1) Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead under the Uniform Determination of Death Act, Section 44-43-460. (2) A certified or authent…

(1) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or any other benefit to a person designated in a governing instrument who, under this part, is not entitled to the payment or item of property, or for having taken any othe…

This part [Sections 62-1-501 et seq.] shall be so construed and interpreted as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law in those states which enact substantially identical laws.

Any part of the estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by his will passes to his heirs as prescribed in the following sections of this Code.

As used in this part: (1) "Account" means an arrangement under a terms-of-service agreement in which a custodian carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods or services to the user. (2) "Agent" means an attorney-in-fact granted…

(A) This part applies to a: (1) fiduciary acting under a will or power of attorney executed before, on, or after the effective date of this act; (2) personal representative acting for a decedent who died before, on, or after the effective date of this act; (3) conservatorship pro…

The intestate share of the surviving spouse is: (1) if there is no surviving issue of the decedent, the entire intestate estate; (2) if there are surviving issue, one-half of the intestate estate.

(A) A user may use an online tool to direct the custodian to disclose or not to disclose to a designated recipient some or all of the user's digital assets, including the content of electronic communications. If the online tool allows the user to modify or delete a direction at a…

(A) This part does not change or impair a right of a custodian or a user under a terms-of-service agreement to access and use digital assets of the user. (B) This part does not give a fiduciary or a designated recipient any new or expanded rights other than those held by the user…

The part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse under Section 62-2-102, or the entire estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows: (1) to the issue of the decedent: if they are all of the same degree of kinship to the decedent they take equally,…

(A) When disclosing digital assets of a user under this part, the custodian may at its sole discretion: (1) grant a fiduciary or designated recipient full access to the user's account; (2) grant a fiduciary or designated recipient partial access to the user's account sufficient t…

If a deceased user consented or a court directs disclosure of the contents of electronic communications of the user, the custodian shall disclose to the personal representative of the estate of the user the content of an electronic communication sent or received by the user if th…

(1) For purposes of intestate succession, homestead allowance, and exempt property, and except as otherwise provided in subsection (2): (a) an individual who was born before a decedent's death but who fails to survive the decedent by one hundred twenty hours is deemed to have pre…

Unless the user prohibited disclosure of digital assets or the court directs otherwise, a custodian shall disclose to the personal representative of the estate of a deceased user a catalogue of electronic communications sent or received by the user and digital assets, other than …

To the extent a power of attorney expressly grants an agent authority over the content of electronic communications sent or received by the principal and unless directed otherwise by the principal or the court, a custodian shall disclose to the agent the content if the agent give…

If there is no taker under the provisions of this article [Sections 62-2-101 et seq.], the intestate estate passes to the State of South Carolina.

Unless otherwise ordered by the court, directed by the principal, or provided by a power of attorney, a custodian shall disclose to an agent with specific authority over digital assets or general authority to act on behalf of a principal a catalogue of electronic communications s…