(a) To the full extent permitted by the Constitution, and except as otherwise specifically provided, the probate court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all subject matter related to:

(1) estates of decedents, including the contest of wills, construction of wills, determination of property in which the estate of a decedent or a protected person has an interest, and determination of heirs and successors of decedents and estates of protected persons, except that the circuit court also has jurisdiction to determine heirs and successors as necessary to resolve real estate matters, including partition, quiet title, and other actions pending in the circuit court;

(2) subject to Part 7, Article 5:

(i) protective proceedings and guardianship proceedings under Article 5;

(ii) gifts made pursuant to the South Carolina Uniform Gifts to Minors Act under Article 5, Chapter 5, Title 63;

(iii) matters involving the establishment, administration, or termination of a special needs trust for disabled individuals;

(3) trusts, inter vivos or testamentary, including the appointment of successor trustees;

(4) the issuance of marriage licenses, in form as provided by the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health and Environmental Control; record, index, and dispose of copies of marriage certificates; and issue certified copies of the licenses and certificates;

(5) the performance of the duties of the clerk of the circuit and family courts of the county in which the probate court is held when there is a vacancy in the office of clerk of court and in proceedings in eminent domain for the acquisition of rights of way by railway companies, canal companies, governmental entities, or public utilities when the clerk is disqualified by reason of ownership of or interest in lands over which it is sought to obtain the rights of way; and

(6) the involuntary commitment of persons suffering from mental illness, intellectual disability, alcoholism, drug addiction, and active pulmonary tuberculosis.

(b) The court's jurisdiction over matters involving wrongful death or actions under the survival statute is concurrent with that of the circuit court and extends only to the approval of settlements as provided in Sections 15-51-41 and 15-51-42 and to the allocation of settlement proceeds among the parties involved in the estate.

(c) The probate court has jurisdiction to hear and determine issues relating to paternity, common-law marriage, and interpretation of marital agreements in connection with estate, trust, guardianship, and conservatorship actions pending before it, concurrent with that of the family court pursuant to Section 63-3-530.

(d) Notwithstanding the exclusive jurisdiction of the probate court over the foregoing matters, any action or proceeding filed in the probate court and relating to the following subject matters, on motion of a party, or by the court on its own motion, made not later than ten days following the date on which all responsive pleadings must be filed, must be removed to the circuit court and in these cases the circuit court shall proceed upon the matter de novo:

(1) formal proceedings for the probate of wills and for the appointment of general personal representatives;

(2) construction of wills;

(3) actions to try title concerning property in which the estate of a decedent or protected person asserts an interest;

(4) matters involving the internal or external affairs of trusts as provided in Section 62-7-201, excluding matters involving the establishment of a "special needs trust" as described in Article 7;

(5) actions in which a party has a right to trial by jury and which involve an amount in controversy of at least five thousand dollars in value; and

(6) actions concerning gifts made pursuant to the South Carolina Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, Article 5, Chapter 5, Title 63.

(e) The removal to the circuit court of an action or proceeding within the exclusive jurisdiction of the probate court applies only to the particular action or proceeding removed, and the probate court otherwise retains continuing exclusive jurisdiction.

(f) Notwithstanding the exclusive jurisdiction of the probate court over the matters set forth in subsections (a) through (c), if an action described in subsection (d) is removed to the circuit court by motion of a party, or by the probate court on its own motion, the probate court may, in its discretion, remove any other related matter or matters which are before the probate court to the circuit court if the probate court finds that the removal of such related matter or matters would be in the best interest of the estate or in the interest of judicial economy. For any matter removed by the probate court to the circuit court pursuant to this subsection, the circuit court shall proceed upon the matter de novo.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, Section 1; 1987 Act No. 171, Section 3; 1988 Act No. 659, Sections 2, 3; 1990 Act No. 521, Section 8; 1992 Act No. 475, Section 2; 1997 Act No. 152, Section 3; 2005 Act No. 132, Section 4; 2008 Act No. 257, Section 1, eff June 4, 2008; 2013 Act No. 100, Section 1, eff January 1, 2014; 2017 Act No. 87 (S.415), Section 3, eff January 1, 2019.

Code Commissioner's Note

Pursuant to 2011 Act No. 47, Section 14(B), the Code Commissioner substituted "intellectual disability" for "mentally retarded" and "person with intellectual disability" or "persons with intellectual disability" for "mentally retarded".

Editor's Note

2017 Act No. 87, Section 6, provides as follows:

"(A) This act takes effect on January 1, 2019.

"(B) Except as otherwise provided in this act, on the effective date of this act:

"(1) this act applies to any conservatorships, guardianships, or protective orders for minors or persons under a disability created before, on, or after its effective date;

"(2) this act applies to all judicial proceedings concerning conservatorships, guardianships, or protective orders for minors or persons under a disability commenced on or after its effective date;

"(3) this act applies to judicial proceedings concerning conservatorships, guardianships, and protective orders for minors or persons under a disability commenced before its effective date unless the court finds that application of a particular provision of this act would substantially interfere with the effective conduct of the judicial proceedings or prejudice the rights of the parties, in which case that particular provision of this act does not apply and the superseded law applies;

"(4) subject to item (B)(5) and subsection (C) of this SECTION, any rule of construction or presumption provided in this act applies to governing instruments executed before the effective date of this act unless there is a clear indication of a contrary intent in the terms of the governing instrument; and

"(5) an act done and any right acquired or accrued before the effective date of the act is not affected by this act.

"(C) If a right is acquired, extinguished, or barred upon the expiration of a prescribed period that has commenced to run under any other statute before the effective date of the act, that statute continues to apply to the right even if it has been repealed or suspended."

Effect of Amendment

The 2008 amendment, in paragraph (d)(1), added "general".