Archives > 1976 South Carolina Code of Laws - Previous Versions > 2002 Session > Title 27

The State of South Carolina owns the copyright to the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as contained herein. Any use of the text, section headings, or catchlines of the 1976 Code is subject to the terms of federal copyright and other applicable laws and such text, section headings, or catchlines may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form or for inclusion in any material which is offered for sale or lease without the express written permission of the Chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Council or the Code Commissioner of South Carolina.

This statutory database is current through the 2002 Regular Session of the South Carolina General Assembly. Changes to the statutes enacted by the 2003 General Assembly, which will convene in January 2003, will be incorporated as soon as possible. Some changes enacted by the 2003 General Assembly may take immediate effect. The State of South Carolina and the South Carolina Legislative Council make no warranty as to the accuracy of the data, and users rely on the data entirely at their own risk.

The Legislative Council by law is charged with compiling and publishing the 1976 Code and it is maintained in a database which may be accessed for commercial purposes by contacting the Legislative Council or the office of Legislative Printing, Information and Technology Systems.








SECTION 27-5-10. Free and common socage is only tenure in State.

The only tenure of lands in this State is that of free and common socage.

SECTION 27-5-20. Rule in Shelley's Case abolished in certain respects.

The rule of law known as the rule in Shelley's Case is hereby abolished in the following particulars, to wit: When, by deed or will or by any instrument in writing, a remainder in lands, tenements, hereditaments or other real estate shall be limited to the heirs, or heirs of the body, of a person to whom a life estate in the same premises is given, the persons who, on the termination of the life estate, are the heirs or heirs of the body of such tenant for life shall take as purchasers in fee simple, by virtue of the remainder so limited to them. The provisions of this section shall not affect wills, deeds and other instruments in writing executed prior to October 1, 1924 or the construction of such wills, deeds and other instruments in writing.

SECTION 27-5-30. Construction of terms "failure of issue" and the like.

Whenever in any deed or other instrument in writing, not testamentary, or in any will of a testator, an estate, either in real or personal property, shall be limited to take effect on the death of any person without heirs of the body, issue or issue of the body, or other equivalent words, such words shall not be construed to mean an indefinite failure of issue, but failure at the time of the death of such person.

SECTION 27-5-40. Feoffment with livery of seizin shall not defeat remainder.

No estate in remainder, whether vested or contingent, shall be defeated by any deed of feoffment with livery of seizin.

SECTION 27-5-50. Warranties by life tenants and certain others shall be void.

All warranties which shall be made by any tenant for life of any lands, tenements or hereditaments descending or coming to any person in reversion or remainder shall be void and of no effect.

All collateral warranties which shall be made of any lands, tenements or hereditaments by any ancestor who has no estate of inheritance in possession in them shall be void against his heir.

SECTION 27-5-60. Feoffments made by person wrongfully in possession shall be void.

If any person after such entry as is mentioned in Section 15-67-430 into lands or tenements holden with force make a feoffment or other discontinuance to any person to have maintenance or to take away and defraud the possessor of his recovery in any wise and afterwards in an action thereof to be taken or pursued before magistrates by due inquiry thereof such feoffments and discontinuances are duly proved to be made for maintenance as aforesaid then such feoffments or other discontinuances shall be void, frustrate and of no effect.

SECTION 27-5-70. Bequests and the like for maintenance of monuments, burial grounds and the like shall not be void as perpetuities.

No gift, devise, bequest or settlement in trust or otherwise shall be held to be void as a perpetuity when it is made for the purpose of maintaining, caring for or keeping in repair any tomb, monument, burial lot, burial ground or cemetery, whether public or private, where the remains of human beings are interred and all such gifts, devises, bequests or settlements in trust or otherwise are hereby declared to be for a charitable purpose.

SECTION 27-5-80. Certain pension plans, annuity trusts and the like of employers exempt from laws against perpetuities.

Pension, profit sharing, stock bonus and annuity trusts, or combinations thereof, established by employers for the purpose of distributing both the principal and income thereof exclusively to eligible employees, or the beneficiaries of such employees, shall not be invalid as violating any laws or rules against perpetuities or restraints on the power of alienation of title to property; but such trust may continue for such period of time as may be required by the provisions thereof to accomplish the purposes for which they are established.

SECTION 27-5-90. Effect of descent cast.

The right of a person to the possession of any real property shall not be impaired or affected by a descent being cast in consequence of the death of a person in possession of such property.

SECTION 27-5-100. Right of entry of lawful owner or heirs against heirs of disseizor.

The dying of any disseizor seized of or in any lands, tenements or other hereditaments, having no right or title therein, shall not be taken or deemed any such descent as to take away the entry of any such person or persons, or their heirs, as, at the time of such descent, had good and lawful title of entry into such lands, tenements or hereditaments unless such disseizor has had the peaceable possession of such lands, tenements or hereditaments for the space of ten years next after the disseizin therein by him committed, without entry or continual claim by or of such person or persons as had lawful title thereunto.

SECTION 27-5-110. None but lawful and peaceable entry shall be made.

No person shall make any entry into any lands and tenements but in case entry is given by law; and in such case not with strong hand nor with multitude of people, but only in peaceable and easy manner.

SECTION 27-5-120. Posthumous child shall take under will or settlement.

A posthumous child shall take under any will or settlement as though born in the lifetime of the father and shall not be liable to be defeated on the ground that the remainder was contingent and did not vest at the instant that the prior estate terminated and that there was no trustee to preserve the contingent remainder.

SECTION 27-5-130. Deeds of real estate to pass entire estate; conveyance of fee simple absolute; construction of conflicting language.

(A) Every deed of real estate executed after December 31, 1993, passes to the grantee the entire interest of the grantor in the property described in the deed, unless provided to the contrary in the deed.

(B) Words of inheritance or succession are unnecessary to convey property in fee simple absolute.

(C) This section modifies the common law and only applies to deeds executed after December 31, 1993.

(D) In the event of a discrepancy between a deed and any addendum or attachment thereto where the words of inheritance or succession are contained in one of the documents, but not in all documents, or where conflicting language exists as to whether or not the grantor intended to convey a fee simple or a life estate interest in the real property, it is presumed rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence that the grantor intended to convey a fee simple absolute interest in the real property if he owned such an interest or his entire interest in the property if he did not own it in fee simple.