Trustee Notice to Beneficiaries Requirements in South Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

South Carolina combines the events into one 90-day notice

S.C. Code § 62-7-813(b)(1) requires notice within 90 days after the trustee accepts a trusteeship or undertakes administration of an irrevocable trust, including a formerly revocable trust that has become irrevocable by the settlor's death or the trust terms.

The statute does not use the UTC's separate acceptance and knowledge clocks. The operative start facts are accepting the trusteeship or undertaking administration of the covered irrevocable trust.

Qualified beneficiaries are living people within three horizons

S.C. Code § 62-7-103(12) includes a living current distributee or permissible distributee, a person who would take if current interests ended without ending the trust, and a person who would take if the trust ended on the determination date.

S.C. Code § 62-7-110(a) adds any other beneficiary who has asked the trustee for notice. Designated charitable organizations and animal or noncharitable-purpose trust enforcers receive the special rights stated in subsections (b) and (c).

The notice has five required disclosures

The initial notice states the trust's existence, identifies the settlor or settlors, and gives the trustee's name, address, and telephone number. It also states the rights to request in writing a copy of the trust instrument and a copy of a trustee's report.

Those are notice-of-right fields. The separate continuing and annual-report rules in § 62-7-813(b)(2)–(4) and (c) should not be folded into extra initial-notice contents.

Initial delivery follows the general functional rule

S.C. Code § 62-7-109(a) requires a method reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt. Its examples include first-class mail, personal delivery, last-known residence or business delivery, and a properly directed electronic message.

Subsection (b) excuses notice to a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable. The publication and proof provisions later in § 62-7-109 concern notice of a court hearing, not this out-of-court initial notice.

Trust terms can change the initial duty

S.C. Code § 62-7-105(a) makes trust terms the general control, and its mandatory list does not include § 62-7-813. The notice provision reinforces that result by beginning both subsections (b) and (c) with “Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide otherwise.”

The person entitled to notice may waive it under § 62-7-109(c). Section 62-7-813(e) separately lets a distributee or permissible distributee waive reports and other information and withdraw that waiver prospectively.

While the trust remains revocable, § 62-7-813(a) directs these duties exclusively to the settlor unless the trust terms expressly provide otherwise.

What trips people up

• There is one combined initial notice, not two separate mailings. The same five disclosures follow the covered acceptance-or-administration trigger.
• The current number is 90 days. South Carolina's present statute does not use the 60-day UTC period.
• There is no knowledge trigger. The clock text uses acceptance or undertaking administration, not when the trustee learns that the trust became irrevocable.
• The duty is not mandatory against the trust terms. The current code expressly permits the terms to provide otherwise.
• No sworn service package is prescribed. Certified mail, perjury language, a trustee signature, an adult server, and proof-of-service filing are not required by the cited initial-notice provisions.

Common questions

Must the complete trust instrument accompany the notice?

No. Section 62-7-813(b)(1)(D) requires the notice to state the right to request a copy in writing. The copy itself is not an automatic attachment.

Can a representative receive the information instead?

Yes, if there is no conflict of interest. Section 62-7-813(d) treats the duties under subsections (b) and (c) as satisfied when the information and report are given to the beneficiary's representative under the cited representation provisions.

Which older trusts fall outside this initial-notice trigger?

The event-specific text reaches an irrevocable trust created on or after the article's effective date and a formerly revocable trust made irrevocable on or after that date. The enrolled act states, "SECTION 9. This act takes effect on January 1, 2006." (2005 S.C. Act No. 66 § 9).

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code §§ 62-7-103(12), 62-7-105, 62-7-109, and 62-7-110 — recipient definitions, trust-term control, delivery, waiver, and additional recipients. Official South Carolina Trust Code (accessed 2026-07-31).
• S.C. Code §§ 62-7-603 and 62-7-813(a)–(e) — revocable-settlor rule, combined 90-day notice, five contents, ongoing duties, representation, and information waiver. Official South Carolina Trust Code (accessed 2026-07-31).
• 2005 S.C. Act No. 66 § 9 — January 1, 2006 effective date. Official enrolled bill page (accessed 2026-08-24).