2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 62 - South Carolina Probate Code › Article 2 - Intestate Succession And Wills › Section 62-2-801. Disclaimer.

(a) This section applies to disclaimers of any interest in or power over property, whenever created, and, in addition to other methods, is the means by which a disclaimer may be made under the laws of this State.
(b) For purpose of this section:
(1) "Disclaimer" means any writing which disclaims, renounces, declines, or refuses an interest in or power over property.
(2) "Disclaimant" means the person to whom a disclaimed interest or power would have passed had the disclaimer not been made.
(3) "Disclaimed interest" means the interest that would have passed to the disclaimant had the disclaimer not been made.
(4) "Fiduciary" means a personal representative, trustee, agent acting under a power of attorney, guardian, conservator, or other person authorized to act as a fiduciary with respect to the property of another person.
(c)(1) A person may disclaim, in whole or in part, any interest in or power over property, including a power of appointment.
(2) Unless barred, a disclaimer must be made within a reasonable time after the disclaimant acquires actual knowledge of the interest. A disclaimer is conclusively presumed to have been made within a reasonable time if made within nine months after the date of effectiveness of the transfer as determined under subsection (d)(3).
(3) To be effective, a disclaimer must be:
(i) in writing;
(ii) declare the writing as a disclaimer;
(iii) describe the interest or power disclaimed; and
(iv) be delivered to the transferor of the interest, the transferor's fiduciary, the holder of the legal title to or the person in possession of the property to which the interest relates, or a court that would have jurisdiction over such interest or subject matter. A disclaimer of a power must be delivered as if the power disclaimed were an interest in property. Delivery of a disclaimer may be made by personal delivery, first-class mail, or any other method that results in its receipt. A disclaimer sent by first-class mail shall be deemed to have been delivered on the date it is postmarked.
(4) A disclaimer is not a transfer, assignment, or release if made within a reasonable time after the disclaimant acquires actual knowledge of the interest and if not otherwise barred.
(5) A barred disclaimer is ineffective as a disclaimer under this section. A disclaimer is barred by any of the following conditions occurring before the disclaimer becomes effective:
(i) the disclaimant waived in writing the right to disclaim;
(ii) the disclaimant accepted the interest sought to be disclaimed;
(iii) the disclaimant voluntarily assigned, conveyed, encumbered, pledged, transferred, or directed the interest sought to be disclaimed or has contracted to do so; or
(iv) a judicial sale of the interest sought to be disclaimed has occurred.
(6) A disclaimer is not barred by a spendthrift provision or similar restriction on transfer or the right to disclaim imposed by the creator of the interest in or power over the property.
(7) A disclaimer is not barred by a disclaimant's financial condition, whether or not insolvent, and a disclaimer that complies with this section is not a fraudulent transfer under the laws of this State.
(8) A disclaimer, in whole or in part, of the future exercise of a power held in a fiduciary capacity is not barred by its previous exercise.
(9) A disclaimer, in whole or in part, of the future exercise of a power not held in a fiduciary capacity is not barred unless the power is exercisable in favor of a disclaimant.
(10) Unless a disclaimer is barred, a disclaimer treated as a qualified disclaimer pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 2518 is effective as a disclaimer under this section.
(d)(1) If a disclaimant makes a disclaimer with respect to any transferor's transfer (including transfers by any means whatsoever, lifetime and testamentary, voluntary and by operation of law, initial and successive, by grant, gift, trust, contract, intestacy, wrongful death, elective share, forced share, homestead allowance, exempt property, devise, bequest, beneficiary designation, survivorship provision, exercise and nonexercise of a power, and otherwise) to the disclaimant of any interest in, including any power with respect to, property, or any undivided portion thereof, the interest, or such portion, is considered never to have been transferred to the disclaimant.
(2) Unless the transferor has provided otherwise in the event of a disclaimer, the disclaimed interest shall be transferred (or fail to be transferred), as if the disclaimant had predeceased the date of effectiveness of the transfer of the interest. The disclaimer shall relate back to that date of effectiveness for all purposes, and any future interest which is provided to take effect in possession or enjoyment after the termination of the disclaimed interest shall take effect as if the disclaimant had predeceased the date on which he or she as the taker of the disclaimed interest became finally ascertained and the disclaimed interest became indefeasibly vested. Provided, that an interest disclaimed by a disclaimant who is the spouse of a decedent, the transferor of the interest, may pass by any further process of transfer to such spouse, notwithstanding the treatment of the transfer of the disclaimed interest as if the disclaimant had predeceased.
(3) The date of effectiveness of the transfer of the disclaimed interest is (i) as to transfers by intestacy, wrongful death, elective share, forced share, homestead allowance, exempt property allowance, and devise and bequest, the date of death of the decedent transferor, or that of the donee of a testamentary power of appointment (whether exercised or not exercised) with respect to, the interest, as the case may be, and (ii) as to all other transfers, the date of effectiveness of the instrument, contract, or act of transfer.
(e)(1) If and to the extent an instrument creates a fiduciary relationship and expressly grants the fiduciary the right to disclaim, the fiduciary may disclaim, in whole or in part, any interest in or power over property, including a power of appointment. If there is no instrument expressly granting the fiduciary the right to disclaim, the fiduciary's right to disclaim shall be determined by the laws of this State applicable to that fiduciary relationship.
(2) If a trustee disclaims an interest in property that otherwise would have become trust property, the disclaimed interest does not become trust property.
(3) A fiduciary may disclaim a power held in a fiduciary capacity. If the power has not been previously exercised, the disclaimer takes effect as of the time the instrument creating the power became irrevocable. If the power has been previously exercised, the disclaimer takes effect immediately after the last exercise of the power. The disclaimer of a fiduciary power may be made binding on any successor fiduciary if the disclaimer so provides.
(4) If no conservator or guardian has been appointed, a parent may disclaim on behalf of that parent's minor child and unborn issue, in whole or in part, any interest in or power over property which the minor child or unborn issue is to receive as a result of another disclaimer, but only if the disclaimed interest or power does not pass outright to that parent as a result of the disclaimer.
(f) A fiduciary or other person having custody of the disclaimed interest is not liable for any otherwise proper distribution or other disposition made without actual notice of the disclaimer or, if the disclaimer is barred pursuant to subsection (c)(5), for any otherwise proper distribution or other disposition made in reliance on the disclaimer, if the distribution or disposition is made without actual knowledge of the facts constituting the bar of the right to disclaim.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, Section 1; 1987 Act No. 70 Section 7; 1990 Act No. 521, Section 29; 2013 Act No. 100, Section 1, eff January 1, 2014.
Effect of Amendment
The 2013 amendment rewrote the section.