In addition to the South Carolina Rules of Evidence, the following rules relating to a determination of death and status apply:
(1) Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead under the Uniform Determination of Death Act, Section 44-43-460.
(2) A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date and time of death, and the identity of the decedent.
(3) A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima facie evidence of the status and of the dates, circumstances, and places disclosed by the record or report.
(4) In the absence of prima facie evidence of death under subsection (2) or (3), the fact of death may be established by clear and convincing evidence, including circumstantial evidence.
(5) A person whose death is not established under the preceding paragraphs who is absent for a continuous period of five years, during which he has not been heard from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry, is presumed to be dead. His death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the period unless there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier.
(6) In the absence of evidence disputing the time of death stated on a document described in subsection (2) or (3), a document described in subsection (2) or (3) that states a time of death one hundred twenty hours or more after the time of death of another person, however the time of death of the other person is determined, establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the person survived the other person by one hundred twenty hours.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, Section 1; Code 1976 Section 62-1-107; 2013 Act No. 100, Section 1, eff January 1, 2014.
Structure South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 62 - South Carolina Probate Code
Article 1 - General Provisions, Definitions, And Probate Jurisdiction Of Court
Section 62-1-100. Effective date.
Section 62-1-101. Short title.
Section 62-1-102. Purposes; rules of construction.
Section 62-1-103. Supplementary general principles of law applicable.
Section 62-1-104. Severability.
Section 62-1-105. Construction against implied repeal.
Section 62-1-106. Effect of fraud and evasion.
Section 62-1-107. Evidence as to death or status.
Section 62-1-108. Acts by holder of general power.
Section 62-1-109. Duties and obligations of lawyer and person serving as a fiduciary.
Section 62-1-110. Fiduciary and lawyer, privileged communication.
Section 62-1-111. Authority to award costs and expenses.
Section 62-1-112. Inherent power of court.
Section 62-1-201. General definitions.
Section 62-1-301. Territorial application.
Section 62-1-302. Subject matter jurisdiction; concurrent jurisdiction with family court.
Section 62-1-303. Venue; multiple proceedings; transfer.
Section 62-1-304. South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure govern formal proceedings.
Section 62-1-305. Records and certified copies.
Section 62-1-306. Jury trials.
Section 62-1-307. Probate judge; powers.
Section 62-1-309. Election and term of judges.
Section 62-1-401. Notice; method and time of giving.
Section 62-1-402. Notice; waiver.
Section 62-1-403. Pleadings; when parties bound by others; notice.
Section 62-1-500. Short title.
Section 62-1-501. Definitions.
Section 62-1-503. Requirement of survival by 120 hours under governing instruments.
Section 62-1-504. Co-owners with right of survivorship; requirement of survival by 120 hours.
Section 62-1-505. Right or benefit that depends on surviving the death of a decedent's killer.