2013 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 62 - South Carolina Probate Code
ARTICLE 7 - SOUTH CAROLINA TRUST CODE
SECTION 62-7-905. Determinations of income and principal; distributions upon death of decedent or end of an income interest in a trust.

After a decedent dies, in the case of an estate, or after an income interest in a trust ends, a fiduciary:

(1) of an estate or of a terminating income interest shall determine the amount of net income and net principal receipts received from property specifically given to a beneficiary pursuant to Sections 62-7-907 through 62-7-930 which apply to trustees and the provisions of item (5). The fiduciary shall distribute the net income and net principal receipts to the beneficiary who is to receive the specific property;

(2) shall determine the remaining net income of a decedent's estate or a terminating income interest pursuant to Sections 62-7-907 through 62-7-930 which apply to trustees and by:

(a) including in net income all income from property used to discharge liabilities;

(b) paying from income or principal, in the fiduciary's discretion, fees of attorneys, accountants, and fiduciaries, court costs and other expenses of administration, and interest on death taxes; except that the fiduciary may pay those expenses from income of property passing to a trust for which the fiduciary claims an estate tax marital or charitable deduction only to the extent that the payment of those expenses from income does not cause the reduction or loss of the deduction; and

(c) paying from principal all other disbursements made or incurred in connection with the settlement of a decedent's estate or the winding up of a terminating income interest, including debts, funeral expenses, disposition of remains, family allowances, and death taxes and related penalties that are apportioned to the estate or terminating income interest by the will, the terms of the trust, or applicable law;

(3) shall distribute to a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary amount outright the rate of interest or other amount provided by the will or the terms of the trust. If the will or the terms of the trust provide no interest amount, the beneficiary of a pecuniary amount outright shall receive no interest or other income on the bequest for one year after the first appointment of a personal representative. Beginning one year after the first appointment of a personal representative, and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the beneficiary of a pecuniary amount outright must be treated as any other beneficiary under item (4). If a beneficiary is to receive a pecuniary amount outright from a trust after an income interest ends and no interest or other amount is provided for by the terms of the trust, the fiduciary shall treat the pecuniary amount as if it were required to be paid under a will and as if the payment were being made beginning one year after the first appointment of a personal representative;

(4) shall distribute the net income remaining after distributions required by item (3) in the manner pursuant to Section 62-7-906 to all other beneficiaries, including a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary amount in trust, even if the beneficiary holds an unqualified power to withdraw assets from the trust or other presently exercisable general power of appointment over the trust; and

(5) may not reduce principal or income receipts from property described in item (1) because of a payment pursuant to Sections 62-7-924 and 62-7-925 to the extent that the will, the terms of the trust, or applicable law requires the fiduciary to make the payment from assets other than the property or to the extent that the fiduciary recovers or expects to recover the payment from a third party. The net income and principal receipts from the property are determined by including all of the amounts the fiduciary receives or pays with respect to the property, whether those amounts accrued or became due before, on, or after the date of a decedent's death or an income interest's terminating event, and by making a reasonable provision for amounts that the fiduciary believes the estate or terminating income interest may become obligated to pay after the property is distributed.

HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 66, Section 1; 2013 Act No. 100, Section 2, eff January 1, 2014.