South Carolina S 1140: Mary White

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 1140 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 22, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 1140

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 AMENDING SECTION 14-23-1040, RELATING TO THE QUALIFICATIONS OF PROBATE 
JUDGES TO HOLD THE OFFICE, SO AS TO REVISE THE QUALIFICATIONS AND PROVIDE THAT 
NO PERSON IS ELIGIBLE TO THE HOLD THE OFFICE OF PROBATE JUDGE WHO IS NOT A 
LICENSED ATTORNEY IN GOOD STANDING OR WHO HAS TEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE AS AN 
EMPLOYEE IN A PROBATE JUDGE'S OFFICE; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 14-23-1100, 
RELATING TO THE DUTIES OF CLERKS OF THE PROBATE COURTS, SO AS TO PROVIDE A 
CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR CLERKS OF THE PROBATE COURTS.

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

SECTION 1. Section 14-23-1040 of the S.C. 
Code is amended to read:

 Section 14-23-1040. No 
person is eligible to hold the office of judge of probate who is not at the time of his election:

 (1) is not a citizen of the United States and of this State,;

 (2) 
has not attained the age of twenty-one years upon his election,;

 (3) 
has not become a qualified elector of the county in which he is to be a judge,; and

 (4) has not received a four-year bachelor's degree 
from an accredited post-secondary institution or if he has received no degree 
he must haveis not a 
licensed attorney in good standing in this State or has fourten 
years' experience as an employee in a probate judge's office in this State.

SECTION 2. Section 14-23-1100 of the S.C. 
Code is amended to read:

 Section 14-23-1100. (A) The clerk shall keep a true and fair record of each 
order, sentence, decree and license issued by the court, and of all other 
things proper to be recorded. He shall also give true and attested copies of 
instruments, documents and records of the court. He may execute and issue in 
the name of the judge of probate the following: certificates of the appointment 
and qualification of administrators, executors, guardians, committees and 
testamentary trustees; certifications pertaining to, and certified copies of wills, 
all probate court records, and statements or stipulations pertaining thereto; 
warrants of appraisements in decedents' estates including appointment of 
appraisers; and marriage licenses. He shall provide for the publication of the 
citation required by law prior to the appointment of an administrator, and for 
the issuance and filing in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas 
or of the register of mesne conveyance and the office of the county auditor the 
index forms required by law pertaining to the devise or descent of real 
property. He shall prepare and execute all forms necessary to obtain payment of 
insurance benefits in connection with intestate estate being administered by 
the probate court as provided by law. He may examine, vouch, and approve 
uncontested accountings, and may execute and submit requisitions and claim 
warrants for supplies and material needed for the operation of the court. He 
may take acknowledgments and administer oaths, and, subject to the control of 
the judge, may issue notices and make all necessary orders for the hearing of 
any matter to be heard in the court. If a matter is not contested, he may hear 
and determine it and make all orders, judgments and decrees in connection 
therewith which the judge could make, subject to the same being set aside or 
modified by the judge at any time within thirty days thereafter; and if not so 
set aside or modified such orders, judgments and decrees made by the clerk 
shall have the same effect as if made by the judge. No person shall practice as 
an attorney or counselor at law in the court of which he is clerk.

 (B) Each clerk shall complete six 
hours of mandatory continuing education specific to the probate court by 
December thirty-first each year.

 (C) Nothing in this section may be construed to preclude 
use of a computer system or related equipment by a clerk of court in 
performance of the duties prescribed in this section.

SECTION 
3. If any section, subsection, paragraph, 
subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason 
held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the 
constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the 
General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each 
and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, 
phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other 
sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, 
or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise 
ineffective.

SECTION 
4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Go