South Carolina S 49: Constitutional Amendment Officer Qualification College Trustees

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 49 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 11, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 49

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
27-1-80 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A TRANSFER ON DEATH FOR REAL PROPERTY.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Title 27 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
27-1-80. (A) Any owner of real 
property may establish a Transfer on Death (TOD) designation upon any such 
title, subject to the provisions of this section, for the purposes set forth 
herein. Any affidavit containing language that shows a clear intent to 
designate a TOD beneficiary must be liberally construed to do so. Such affidavit 
must be recorded in the Office of County Records in the county in which the 
real property is recorded and when so recorded, the affidavit serves as 
conclusive evidence of the TOD designation therein. 

 (B) A 
TOD designation on any titled real property passes, upon the death of all 
owners of such titled real property, to the TOD beneficiary or beneficiaries 
pursuant to this section and is effective by reason of this statute and such 
transfer is not testamentary or subject to Articles 1 through 4 (estate administration).

 (C) A 
beneficiary of a TOD designation on any titled real property has no ownership 
of the titled real property during the lifetime of the owner or owners of the 
titled real property.

 (D) The 
following rules apply to titled real property owned by one owner with TOD 
designation:

 (1) 
On the death of an owner who is the sole owner of titled real property with a 
TOD designation, the titled real property belongs to the surviving beneficiary 
or beneficiaries named in the TOD designation. If two or more beneficiaries 
survive, the titled real property must be titled to them in undivided equal 
shares and there is no right of survivorship in the event of a later death of a 
beneficiary, unless the beneficiaries thereafter change the titling during 
their lifetimes to reflect a right of survivorship.

 (2) 
If no beneficiary named on the TOD designation survives upon the death of the 
owner, then the titled real property belongs to the estate of the owner.

 (3) 
Any sole owner who utilizes a TOD designation on titled real property may 
revoke or modify the TOD designation at any time during the owner's life 
without the consent of any beneficiary listed on a TOD designation.

 (E) The 
following rules apply to titled real property owned by two or more owners with 
a TOD designation:

 (1) 
Only multiple owners who own titled real property with right of survivorship 
are entitled to utilize a TOD designation to transfer property pursuant to this 
section and a TOD designation for multiple owners who own titled real property 
without such right of survivorship is ineffective.

 (2) 
On the death of one owner among multiple owners with right of survivorship the 
titled real property belongs to the surviving owner or owners. If two or more 
owners survive, the titled real property belongs to the surviving owners in 
undivided equal shares and the right of survivorship continues between the 
surviving parties.

 (3) On 
the death of the last surviving owner among multiple owners with right of 
survivorship, the titled real property belongs to the surviving beneficiary or 
beneficiaries named in a TOD designation. If two or more beneficiaries survive, 
the titled real property belongs to them in undivided equal shares and there is 
no right of survivorship in the event of a later death of a beneficiary, unless 
the beneficiaries thereafter change the titling to reflect a right of 
survivorship during their lifetimes. If no beneficiary named in the TOD 
designation is living on the date of the last surviving owner's death, the 
titled real property belongs to the estate of the last surviving owner.

 (4) 
When multiple owners own titled real property, all of the multiple owners, or 
the survivors among them, must act together to establish such TOD designation 
or to thereafter revoke or modify the TOD designation, but the consent of any 
beneficiary selected in the TOD designation is not required.

 (F) An 
owner or multiple owners of real property shall apply to the appropriate master 
in equity for such TOD designation pursuant to the terms of this section 
pursuant to the rules and standards of the master in equity.

 (G) The 
master in equity office upon request, shall retitle the appropriate titled real 
property with a TOD designation, to:

 (1) the 
beneficiary or beneficiaries named in the TOD designation, if proof of death is 
presented to the appropriate department showing that the beneficiary or 
beneficiaries survived all owners of the titled real prop