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SOUTH CAROLINA LEGAL INFORMATION
Last Will and Testament Statutes
Link to the South Carolina Statutes online which contain the portion of the Probate Code dealing with last wills.
Last Will information from the South Carolina Bar Association
American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates
American Bar Association, Estate Planning
Selected South Carolina Statutes
- SECTION 62-2-501. Who may make a will. A person who is of sound mind and who is not a minor as defined in Section 62-1-201(24) may make a will.
- SECTION 62-2-502. Execution. Except as provided for writings within Section 62-2-512 and wills within Section 62-2-505, every will, shall be in writing signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other person in the testator's presence and by his direction, and shall be signed by at least two persons each of whom witnessed either the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will.
- SECTION 62-2-503. Attestation and self-proving.
(a) Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved. The self-proof shall be effective upon the acknowledgment by the testator and the affidavit of at least one witness, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state where execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in the following form or in a similar form showing the same intent:
I, __________, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this ___ day of __________, 19___, and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my last will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
We, __________ and __________, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, and at least one of us, being first duly sworn, does hereby declare, generally and to the undersigned authority, that the testator signs and executes this instrument as his last will and that he signs it willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for him), and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, hereby signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
(b) An attested will may at any time subsequent to its execution be made self-proved by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavit of at least one witness, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state where the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the official seal, attached, or annexed to the will in the following form or in a similar form showing the same intent:
The State of __________ County of __________ We, __________ and __________, the testator and at least one of the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the instrument as his last will and that he had signed willingly (or willingly directed another to sign for him), and that he executed it as his free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that each of the witnesses, in the presence and hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and to the best of his knowledge the testator was at that time eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
(c) A witness to any will who is also an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this State may notarize the signature of the other witness of the will in the manner provided by this section.
- SECTION 62-2-504. Subscribing witnesses shall not be incompetent because of interest; effect on gifts to them. No subscribing witness to any will, testament, or codicil may be held incompetent to attest or prove the same by reason of any devise, legacy, or bequest therein in favor of such witness or the husband or wife of such witness, by reason of any appointment therein of such witness or the husband or wife of such witness to any office, trust, or duty, or by reason of any charge therein of debts to any part of the estate in favor of such witness as creditor. Any such devise, legacy, or bequest is valid and effectual, if otherwise so, but unless there are two other and disinterested witnesses then so far as the property, estate, or interest so devised or bequeathed exceeds in value any property, estate, or interest to which such witness or the husband or wife of such witness would be entitled upon the failure to establish such will, testament, or codicil, such devise, legacy, or bequest is null and void to the extent of such excess. Any such appointment is valid, if otherwise so, and the person so appointed, in such case, is entitled by law to take or receive any commissions or other compensation on account thereof.
- SECTION 62-2-505. Choice of law as to execution. A written will is valid if executed in compliance with Section 62-2-502 either at the time of execution or at the date of the testator's death or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of (1) the place where the will is executed, or (2) the place where the testator is domiciled at the time of execution or at the time of death.
- SECTION 62-2-506. Revocation by writing or by act. A will or any part thereof is revoked:
(1) by a subsequent will which revokes the prior will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or
(2) by being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed, with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it by the testator or by another person in his presence and by his direction.
- SECTION 62-2-507. Revocation by divorce, annulment, and order terminating marital property rights; no revocation by other changes of circumstances. If after executing a will the testator is divorced or his marriage annulled or his spouse is a party to a valid proceeding concluded by an order purporting to terminate all marital property rights or confirming equitable distribution between spouses, the divorce or annulment or order revokes any disposition or appointment of property including beneficial interests made by the will to the spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the spouse, and any nomination of the spouse as executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian, unless the will expressly provides otherwise. Property prevented from passing to a spouse because of revocation by divorce or annulment or order passes as if the spouse failed to survive the decedent, and other provisions conferring some power or office on the spouse are interpreted as if the spouse failed to survive the decedent. If provisions are revoked solely by this section, they are revived by testator's remarriage to the former spouse. For purposes of this section, divorce or annulment or order means any divorce or annulment or order which would exclude the spouse as a surviving spouse within the meaning of subsections (b) and (c) of Section 62-2-802. A decree of separate maintenance which does not terminate the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for purposes of this section. No change of marital or parental circumstances other than as described in this section revokes a will.
- SECTION 62-2-509. Incorporation by reference. Any writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification.
- SECTION 62-2-512. Separate writing identifying bequest of tangible property. 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, evidences of indebtedness, documents of title (as defined in Section 36-1-201(15)), securities (as defined in Section 36-8-102(1)(A)), and property used in trade or business. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing must either be in the handwriting of the testator or be signed by him and must describe the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty. The writing may be referred to as one to be in existence at the time of the testator's death; it may be prepared before or after the execution of the will; it may be altered by the testator after its preparation; and it may be a writing which has no significance apart from its effect upon the dispositions made by the will.
- SECTION 62-2-602. Construction that will passes all property; after-acquired property.
A will is construed to pass all property which the testator owns at his death including property acquired after the execution of the will.
Library of Informational Legal Articles
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