SOUTH CAROLINA

Has state opted out of federal bankruptcy exemptions? Yes. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-35.

Is opt out limited to residents or domiciliaries of the state? Not specified. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-35: “No individual may exempt from the property of the estate in any bankruptcy proceeding the property specified in [§ 522(d)] except as may be expressly permitted by this chapter or by other provisions of law of this State.”

Do state’s exemptions have extraterritorial application?

Homestead: No. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30 applies to the “real and personal property of a debtor domiciled in this state.”

Personal property: No. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30 applies to the “real and personal property of a debtor domiciled in this state.”

Wages: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 15-39-410, 15-39-420.

Scope: Personal service earnings are exempt.

Amount: Fully exempt.

Survival after payment/deposit: Not specified in exemption statute.

Waiver: Not specified in exemption statute.

Homestead: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(1). See S.C. Const. art. III, § 28.

Amount: $63,250 in real property or personal property used as residence or in cooperative used as residence or in burial plot. Multiple owners may exempt up to $126,475. Starting July 1, 2008, homestead exemption amounts are adjusted in each even-numbered year, according to the Consumer Price Index. New amounts are published annually by the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office every March 1. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(B).

Procedural requirements: Not specified in exemption statute.

Special provisions: Not specified in exemption statute.

Waiver: Not specified in exemption statute.

Tangible personal property: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30. See S.C. Const. art. III, § 28.

Household goods: $5050 in household furnishings and goods, clothing, appliances, books, animals, crops, musical instruments. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(3).

Motor vehicles: $6325 in one motor vehicle. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(2).

Tools of trade: $1900. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(6).

Clothing and jewelry: $1275 in jewelry (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(4)); clothing included in household goods exemption.

Miscellaneous and wildcard: $6325 in cash and liquid assets (including bank deposits) for those debtors without a homestead (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(5)); up to $6325 in unused personal property exemptions (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(7)); health aids. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(10).

Waiver: Not specified in exemption statute.

Special provisions: Dollar amounts are to be adjusted on July 1 each even-numbered year to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(B). New amounts are published by the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, in the state register, and on the agency’s website.

Benefits, retirement plans, insurance, judgments, and other intangibles: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30.

Public benefits: Right to receive or property traceable to Social Security, unemployment, local public assistance, veterans’ benefits. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(11).

Pensions, retirement plans, and annuities: ERISA pensions; right to receive payment under certain tax-qualified IRAs and retirement plans. This exemption protects persons with “an interest” in retirement plan as “participant, beneficiary, contingent annuitant, alternate payee or otherwise.” S.C. Code Ann. §§ 15-41-30(A)(13), 15-41-30(A)(14).

Insurance, judgments, or other compensation for injury: Certain unmatured life insurance (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(8)); right to receive disability, illness, or unemployment benefit; right to receive, or property traceable to, award under crime victim reparation law, payment for bodily injury to debtor or bodily injury or wrongful death of one on whom debtor is dependent (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(12)), or life insurance proceeds of one on whom debtor was dependent (so far as needed for support). S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(12). Accrued dividend or interest, or loan value of certain insurance: $5050 (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(9)).

Bank accounts: Not specified in exemption statute (but note in lieu of homestead exemption).

Alimony, child support: Right to receive alimony, support, or separate maintenance. S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(11)(d).

Tax refunds: Not specified in exemption statute.

Survival after payment or deposit: Note that some exemptions specify “right to receive” or “right to receive and property traceable to.”