Signing Over Authority
S.C. Code 62-8-105 — signed, witnessed like a will, and acknowledged
How one is made. A power of attorney must be signed by the principal, or in the principal's presence by someone the principal directs; attested with the same formality and the same witnesses as a will in South Carolina; and acknowledged or proved under the recording statute.
One made under the act is durable, surviving the principal's incapacity, unless it expressly says incapacity ends it.
- The principal dies.
- The principal becomes incapacitated, if it is not durable.
- The principal revokes it, or it provides that it ends.
- Its purpose is accomplished.
- The agent's authority ends and no other agent is provided for.
Those are the ways a power of attorney ends. A revocation is executed the same way as the power itself, and recorded in the same county if the power was recorded. Signing a new one does not revoke an earlier one unless it says so.
An agent who accepts acts in the principal's best interest and reasonable expectations as known, in good faith, and only within the authority granted; acts loyally, avoids conflicts, uses ordinary care, and keeps a record of all receipts, disbursements and transactions.
Making gifts, changing beneficiary designations, creating survivorship rights and several other acts need an express grant in the document. Health care decisions are made under a separate health care power of attorney. Whether a particular document is valid is a question for a licensed South Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- S.C. Code 62-8-105 — Execution of power of attorney
- S.C. Code 62-8-104 — Power of attorney is durable
- S.C. Code 62-8-110 — Termination of power of attorney or agent's authority
- S.C. Code 62-8-114 — Agent's duties
- S.C. Code 62-8-201 — Authority that requires specific grant; grant of general authority
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.