Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
South Carolina adopted the Uniform Trust Code as Article 7 of its Probate Code in 2005 Act No. 66. It kept the annual report but made it flexible: the report may be in any format that gives beneficiaries the information they need, including a copy of the fiduciary income tax return or bank and brokerage statements. The probate court has exclusive jurisdiction over the internal affairs of trusts.
Who must provide an accounting in South Carolina
Section 62-7-813 applies, unless the trust terms expressly provide otherwise, to irrevocable trusts created, and revocable trusts that become irrevocable, on or after the article's effective date. While a trust is revocable, the trustee's duties run only to the settlor.
Within ninety days after accepting a trusteeship or taking over administration of an irrevocable trust, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, the trustee's name, address and telephone number, and their right to request in writing a copy of the trust instrument and of any trustee's report.
Throughout the administration, the trustee keeps the distributees and permissible distributees reasonably informed about the administration and the material facts they need to protect their interests, without waiving the attorney-client privilege between the trustee and the trustee's attorney. Other beneficiaries may request in writing a copy of the trust instrument, redacted to the provisions relevant to their interest, and information about the administration. The trustee gives advance notice of any change in the method or rate of compensation, but need not give advance notice of transactions.
The report goes out annually and at termination to the distributees and permissible distributees, and to other qualified beneficiaries who have asked in writing. A distributee or permissible distributee may waive reports and later withdraw the waiver. Where there is no conflict of interest, reports given to a beneficiary's representative satisfy the duty.
What a South Carolina trust accounting must contain
The statute is permissive. The annual report may be in any format that gives the beneficiaries the information necessary to protect their interests. It may include a copy of the fiduciary income tax return, copies of bank or brokerage statements, or an informal list of assets with market values if feasible, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation.
A minimal report satisfies the reporting duty, but the limitation rule below turns on whether a report adequately disclosed a claim, which a tax return or a stack of statements may not do.
Income and principal allocation in South Carolina
Allocation is governed by the South Carolina Uniform Principal and Income Act, Part 9 of the trust code, beginning at section 62-7-901.
Filing an accounting with the South Carolina probate court
Under section 62-7-201, the probate court has exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings by interested parties concerning the internal affairs of trusts, including proceedings to review and settle interim or final accounts and to review the reasonableness of compensation paid to the trustee and to agents such as attorneys, auditors and investment advisors. These proceedings are formal, though consent petitions are not.
A proceeding does not create continuing supervision. Accounts and reports to beneficiaries proceed without court involvement unless an interested party invokes the court's jurisdiction.
When a South Carolina accounting is contested
Section 62-7-1005 bars a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim. A report discloses adequately if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the claim or should have inquired into it. Unlike the uniform text, South Carolina does not require the report to state the deadline.
Otherwise, the outer limit is three years from the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare South Carolina trustee's reports that go beyond the statutory minimum, with receipts, disbursements and compensation laid out to start the section 62-7-1005 one-year period, and accounts for review and settlement in the probate court. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about South Carolina fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: South Carolina Code of Laws Title 62, Article 7, South Carolina Legislature.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
