South Carolina § 62-3-1204 - Small estates; closing by sworn statement of personal representative.

§ 62-3-1204. Small estates; closing by sworn statement of personal representative.

(a) Unless prohibited by order of the court and except for estates being administered under Part 5 (Sections 62-3-501 et seq.), after filing an inventory with the court, and paying any court fees due, the personal representative may close an estate administered under the summary procedures of Section 62-3-1203 by filing with the court, at any time after disbursement and distribution of the estate, a verified statement stating that:

(1) either

(i) to the best knowledge of the personal representative, the value of the entire probate estate (the decedent's property passing under the decedent's will plus the decedent's property passing by intestacy), less liens and encumbrances, did not exceed forty-five thousand dollars and exempt property, costs, and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness of the decedent; or

(ii) the estate qualifies for summary administration according to the provisions of subsection (b) of Section 62-3-1203;

(2) the personal representative has fully administered the estate by disbursing and distributing it to the persons entitled thereto;

(3) the personal representative has sent a copy of the closing statement to all distributees of the estate and to all creditors or other claimants of whom the personal representative is aware and whose claims are neither paid nor barred and has furnished a full account in writing of his administration to the distributees whose interests are affected.

(b) If no unresolved claims, actions or proceedings involving the personal representative are pending in any court one year after the date of the decedent's death, the appointment of the personal representative terminates.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, SECTION 1; 1990 Act No. 521, SECTION 70; 2013 Act No. 100, SECTION 1, eff January 1, 2014; 2025 Act No. 26 (H.3472), SECTION 3, eff May 8, 2025.

Effect of Amendment

The 2013 amendment, in subsection (a), substituted "after filing an inventory with the court, and paying any court fees due, the" for "a"; in subsection (a)(1)(i), substituted "twenty-five thousand dollars" for "ten thousand dollars"; in subsection (a)(3), substituted "the personal representative is aware and" for "he is aware"; and in subsection (b), inserted "unresolved claims,", and substituted "any court one year after the date of the decedent's death," for "the court one year after the closing statement is filed".

2025 Act No. 26, SECTION 3, in (a)(1)(i), substituted "forty-five thousand dollars" for "twenty-five thousand dollars".

Part 13

Sale of Real Estate by Probate Court