Opinion ID: 1214219
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The general survivability statute applies to the Dealers Act.

Text: The general survivability statute has a wide ambit that includes all causes of action not covered by specific exceptions. Causes of action for and in respect to ... any and all injuries to the person or to personal property shall survive both to and against the personal or real representative... of a deceased person ... any law or rule to the contrary notwithstanding. S.C.Code Ann. § 15-5-90 (1976). When the statute's terms are clear and unambiguous, there is no room for an alternate construction, and courts must apply them according to their literal meaning. Tilley v. Pacesetter Corp., 333 S.C. 33, 508 S.E.2d 16 (1998). Generally, any cause of action which could have been brought by the deceased in his lifetime survives to his representative. Layne v. International Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 271 S.C. 346, 247 S.E.2d 346 (1978). The language of the survivability statute is clear and unambiguous. Causes of action for injuries to a person survive the death of the person. The section contains no language that suggests causes of action brought under the Dealers Act would not survive the death of a person to whom the action has accrued. Despite the clear language of the statute, this Court has created certain exceptions to the survivability statute. See, e.g., Estate of Covington v. AT & T Nassau Metals Corp., 304 S.C. 436, 405 S.E.2d 393 (1991) (workers compensation claims); Brown v. Bailey, 215 S.C. 175, 54 S.E.2d 769 (1949) (actions for malicious prosecution); Carver v. Morrow, 213 S.C. 199, 48 S.E.2d 814 (1948) (actions for slander); Mattison v. Palmetto State Life Ins. Co., 197 S.C. 256, 15 S.E.2d 117 (1941) (actions for fraud and deceit); Chewning v. Clarendon County, 168 S.C. 351, 167 S.E. 555 (1933) (actions against a county for pain and suffering accruing to a decedent as a result of injury caused by a defect in a highway). However, none of these cases suggest that a blanket exception exists for causes of action arising under the Dealers Act.