SC Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the South Carolina Probate Code, how many witnesses must sign a will for it to be validly executed?
- One
- Two (Correct answer)
- Three
- None, if notarized
Correct answer: Two
S.C. Code § 62-2-502 requires the will to be signed by at least two individuals who witnessed the testator's signature or acknowledgment.
Question 2: A South Carolina resident writes and signs a will entirely in her own handwriting with no witnesses. Is the will valid in South Carolina?
- Yes, holographic wills are valid if entirely handwritten
- Yes, if the handwriting is proven by two disinterested parties
- No, South Carolina does not recognize holographic wills executed in the state (Correct answer)
- Yes, but only for personal property
Correct answer: No, South Carolina does not recognize holographic wills executed in the state
South Carolina does not recognize unwitnessed holographic wills executed in the state, though it honors those validly executed under another jurisdiction's law.
Question 3: Under South Carolina intestacy law, if a decedent is survived by a spouse and two children, how is the probate estate divided?
- The spouse takes everything
- The spouse takes one-half and the children share the other half (Correct answer)
- The spouse takes one-third and the children share two-thirds
- The children take everything
Correct answer: The spouse takes one-half and the children share the other half
Under S.C. Code § 62-2-102, a surviving spouse takes one-half when the decedent leaves surviving issue, and the issue share the remainder.
Question 4: What is the amount of the surviving spouse's elective share in South Carolina?
- One-half of the probate estate
- One-third of the probate estate (Correct answer)
- A sliding scale based on length of marriage
- One-fourth of the augmented estate
Correct answer: One-third of the probate estate
S.C. Code § 62-2-201 entitles a surviving spouse to elect one-third of the decedent's probate estate.
Question 5: Testator's will leaves $50,000 to his brother, who predeceases him leaving a daughter. Under South Carolina's anti-lapse statute, who takes the gift?
- The gift lapses into the residue
- The brother's daughter (Correct answer)
- The testator's heirs by intestacy
- The brother's estate
Correct answer: The brother's daughter
South Carolina's anti-lapse statute saves gifts to a predeceased devisee who is a grandparent or lineal descendant of a grandparent by passing the gift to the devisee's surviving issue.
Question 6: In South Carolina, what effect does a divorce have on a will executed during the marriage?
- It revokes the entire will
- It has no effect unless the will says so
- It revokes provisions in favor of the former spouse (Correct answer)
- It converts the spouse's gift to a life estate
Correct answer: It revokes provisions in favor of the former spouse
Under S.C. Code § 62-2-507, divorce revokes dispositions and fiduciary appointments in favor of the former spouse, treating the former spouse as having predeceased.
Question 7: A testator married after executing his will, which makes no provision for the new spouse. Under South Carolina law, what may the omitted spouse claim?
- Nothing, because the will controls
- The entire estate
- An intestate share, unless the omission was intentional or the spouse was otherwise provided for (Correct answer)
- Only homestead and exempt property
Correct answer: An intestate share, unless the omission was intentional or the spouse was otherwise provided for
An omitted spouse under S.C. Code § 62-2-301 receives the share she would take by intestacy unless the will shows intentional omission or provision was made outside the will.
SC Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2
Under the South Carolina Probate Code, how many witnesses must sign a will for it to be validly executed?