South Carolina § 62-3-704 - Personal representative to proceed with court sanction.

§ 62-3-704. Personal representative to proceed with court sanction.

A personal representative shall proceed expeditiously with the settlement and distribution of a decedent's estate under the supervision of the court, as follows:

(a) Immediately after his appointment he shall publish the notice to creditors required by Section 62-3-801.

(b) Within ninety days after his appointment he shall file with the court the inventory and appraisement required by Section 62-3-706.

(c) Upon the expiration of the relevant period, as set forth in Section 62-3-807, the personal representative shall proceed to allow or disallow claims and pay the claims allowed against the estate, as provided in Section 62-3-807.

(d) Upon the expiration of the relevant period, as set forth in Section 62-3-1001, the personal representative shall file the accounting, proposal for distribution, petition for settlement of the estate, proofs required by Section 62-3-1001, and proof of publication of notice to creditors.

(e) Within the time set forth in Section 62-3-806(a), serve upon all claimants a notice stating that their claim has been allowed or disallowed pursuant to that section.

(f) The time periods stated herein for completing the above requirements are not intended to supplant any other time periods stated elsewhere in this Code. The court may on its own motion, or on the motion of the personal representative or of any interested person, extend the time for completing any of the requirements of administration contained in Article 3 [Section 62-3-1001, et seq.] including any of the above requirements, and especially including the requirement to account, under Section 62-3-1001, in cases of estates which remain significantly unadministered as of the expiration of the relevant time period, either as to the marshalling of assets or as to the allowance of claims.

(g) If a personal representative or trustee neglects or refuses to comply with any provision of Section 62-3-706 he is subject to the contempt power of the court. The probate court, after a hearing and any notice the court may require, may issue its order imposing the sentence, fine, or penalty as it sees fit and remove the personal representative and appoint another personal representative.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, SECTION 1; 1987 Act No. 171, SECTION 26; 1990 Act No. 521, SECTION 45; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 1608; 2013 Act No. 100, SECTION 1, eff January 1, 2014.

Effect of Amendment

The 2013 amendment, in subsection (c), inserted "allow or disallow claims and"; in subsection (d), substituted "accounting" for "account"; added subsection (e), relating to Section 62-3-806, and redesignated the remaining subsections accordingly; and rewrote subsection (g).