2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 62 - South Carolina Probate Code
ARTICLE 2 - INTESTATE SUCCESSION AND WILLS
Section 62-2-901. Delivery of will to judge of probate; filing.
(a) After the death of a testator, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver such will, within thirty days of actual notice or knowledge of the testator's death to the judge of the probate court having jurisdiction to admit the same or to a person named as personal representative in the will who shall deliver the will to the judge of the probate court. Upon receipt of the will, the judge of probate shall file the same in probate court and if proceedings for the probate are not begun within thirty days the judge shall publish a notice of such delivery and filing in one of the newspapers in the county of the probate court for once a week for three consecutive weeks.
(b) Any person who intentionally or fraudulently destroys, suppresses, conceals, or fails to deliver the will to the judge of the probate court having jurisdiction to admit it to probate is liable to any person aggrieved for any damages that may be sustained by such action or inaction.
(c) Any person who intentionally or fraudulently destroys, suppresses, conceals, or fails to deliver the will to the judge of the probate court having jurisdiction to admit it to probate, after being ordered by the court in a proceeding brought for the purpose of compelling delivery, is subject to a penalty for contempt of court.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, Section 1; 1987 Act No. 171, Section 15; 2013 Act No. 100, Section 1, eff January 1, 2014.
Effect of Amendment
The 2013 amendment rewrote the section.
