2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 62 - South Carolina Probate Code
Chapter 1 - ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS, DEFINITIONS, AND PROBATE JURISDICTION OF COURT
Section 62-1-308 - Appeals.

Except as provided in subsection (g), 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 and considering himself injured by it may appeal to the circuit court in the same county. The notice of intention to appeal to the circuit court must be filed in the office of the circuit court and in the office of the probate court and a copy served on all parties within ten days after receipt of written notice of the appealed from order, sentence, or decree of the probate court. The grounds of appeal must be filed in the office of the probate court and a copy served on all parties within forty-five days after receipt of written notice of the order, sentence, or decree of the probate court.

(b) Within thirty days after the grounds of appeal has been filed in the office of the probate court, as provided in subsection (a), the probate court shall make a return to the appellate court of the testimony, proceedings, and judgment and file it in the appellate court. Upon final disposition of the appeal, all papers included in the return must be forwarded to the probate court.

(c) When an appeal according to law is taken from any sentence or decree of the probate court, all proceedings in pursuance of the order, sentence, or decree appealed from shall cease until the judgment of the circuit court, court of appeals, or Supreme Court is had. If the appellant, in writing, waives his appeal before the entry of the judgment, proceedings may be had in the probate court as if no appeal had been taken.

(d) When the return has been filed in the circuit court as provided in subsection (b), the court shall hear and determine the appeal according to the rules of law. The hearing must be strictly on appeal and no new evidence may be presented.

(e) The final decision and judgment in cases appealed, as provided in this code, shall be certified to the probate court by the circuit court, court of appeals, or Supreme Court, as the case may be, and the same proceedings shall be had in the probate court as though the decision had been made in the probate court.

(f) A judge of a probate court must not be admitted to have any voice in judging or determining an appeal from his decision or be permitted to act as attorney or counsel.

(g) If the parties not in default consent either in writing or on the record at a hearing in the probate court, a party to a final order, sentence, or decree of a probate court who considers himself injured by it may appeal directly to the Supreme Court, and the procedure for the appeal must be governed by the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, Section 1; 1990 Act No. 521, Section 9; 1997 Act No. 152,Section 4; 1999 Act No. 55, Section 56.