<p> 1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 118th Session, 2009-2010 3 4 S. 1352 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senator Reese 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7334zw09.docx 11 12 Introduced in the Senate on April 13, 2010 13 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary 14 15 Summary: Homestead creditor protection 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 4/13/2010 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ11 22 4/13/2010 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ11 23 4/28/2010 Senate Referred to Subcommittee: L.Martin (ch), Rankin, Hutto, Bright, Davis 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 4/13/2010 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 154130, AS AMENDED, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO 13 PROPERTY EXEMPT FROM BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS 14 OR ATTACHMENT, LEVY, AND SALE, SO AS TO REVISE 15 THE MANNER IN WHICH THE VALUE OF THE MAXIMUM 16 HOMESTEAD CREDITOR PROTECTION IS TO BE 17 DETERMINED. 18 19 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 20 Carolina: 21 22 SECTION 1. Section 154130 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 23 by Act 225 of 2008, is further amended to read: 24 25 “Section 154130. (A) The following real and personal 26 property of a debtor domiciled in this State is exempt from 27 attachment, levy, and sale under any mesne or final process issued 28 by a court or bankruptcy proceeding: 29 (1) The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed fifty 30 thousand dollars in value, in real property or personal property that 31 the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, in a 32 cooperative that owns property that the debtor or a dependent of 33 the debtor uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a 34 dependent of the debtor, except that the aggregate value of 35 multiple homestead exemptions allowable with respect to a single 36 living unit may not exceed one hundred thousand dollars. If there 37 are multiple owners of such a living unit exempt as a homestead, 38 the value of the exemption of each individual owner may not 39 exceed his fractional portion of one hundred thousand dollars. A 40 homestead, if located outside a municipality, to the extent of one 41 hundred sixty acres of contiguous land and improvements, may not 42 be reduced without the owner’s consent by reason of subsequent</p><p>[1352] 2 1 inclusion in a municipality; or if located within a municipality, to 2 the extent of onehalf acre of contiguous land, the exemption is 3 limited to the residence of the owner or the owner’s family. 4 (a) These exemptions inure to the surviving spouse or 5 heirs of the owner. 6 (b) The homestead is not subject to devise if the owner is 7 survived by a spouse or minor child, except the homestead may be 8 devised to the owner’s spouse if there is no minor child. The 9 owner of homestead real estate, joined by the spouse, if married, 10 may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale, or gift. If the 11 owner or spouse is incompetent, the method of alienation or 12 encumbrance is as provided by law. 13 (2) The debtor’s interest, not to exceed five thousand dollars 14 in value, in one motor vehicle. 15 (3) The debtor’s interest, not to exceed four thousand dollars 16 in aggregate value in household furnishings, household goods, 17 wearing apparel, appliances, books, animals, crops, or musical 18 instruments, that are held primarily for the personal, family, or 19 household use of the debtor or a dependent of the debtor. 20 (4) The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed one 21 thousand dollars in value, in jewelry held primarily for the 22 personal, family, or household use of the debtor or a dependent of 23 the debtor. 24 (5) The debtor’s aggregate interest in cash and other liquid 25 assets to the extent of a value not exceeding five thousand dollars, 26 except that this exemption is available only to an individual who 27 does not claim a homestead exemption. The term ‘liquid assets’ 28 includes deposits, securities, notes, drafts, unpaid earnings not 29 otherwise exempt, accrued vacation pay, refunds, prepayments, 30 and other receivables. 31 (6) The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed one 32 thousand five hundred dollars in value, in any implements, 33 professional books, or tools of the trade of the debtor or the trade 34 of a dependent of the debtor. 35 (7) The debtor’s aggregate interest in any property, not to 36 exceed five thousand dollars in value of an unused exemption 37 amount to which the debtor is entitled pursuant to subsection (A), 38 items (1) (2) through (6). 39 (8) Any unmatured life insurance contract owned by the 40 debtor, other than a credit life insurance contract. 41 (9) The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed in value 42 four thousand dollars less any amount of property of the estate 43 transferred in the manner specified in Section 542(d) of the</p><p>[1352] 3 1 Bankruptcy Code of 1978, in any accrued dividend or interest 2 under, or loan value of, any unmatured life insurance contract 3 owned by the debtor under which the insured is the debtor or an 4 individual of whom the debtor is a dependent. 5 (10) Professionally prescribed health aids for the debtor or a 6 dependent of the debtor. 7 (11) The debtor’s right to receive or property that is traceable 8 to: 9 (a) a social security benefit, unemployment compensation, 10 or a local public assistance benefit; 11 (b) a veteran’s benefit; 12 (c) a disability benefit, except as provided in Section 13 154133, or an illness or unemployment benefit; 14 (d) alimony, support, or separate maintenance; or 15 (e) a payment under a stock bonus, pension, profit 16 sharing, annuity, or similar plan or contract on account of illness, 17 disability, death, age, or length of service, unless: 18 (i)the plan or contract was established by or under the 19 auspices of an insider that employed the debtor at the time the 20 debtor’s rights under the plan or contract arose; 21 (ii) the payment is on account of age or length of 22 service; and 23 (iii) the plan or contract does not qualify under Sections 24 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), or 409 of the Internal Revenue Code of 25 1954 (26 U.S.C. 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), or 409). 26 (12) The debtor’s right to receive or property that is traceable to: 27 (a) an award under a crime victim’s reparation law; 28 (b) a payment on account of the bodily injury of the 29 debtor or of the wrongful death or bodily injury of another 30 individual of whom the debtor was or is a dependent; or 31 (c) a payment under a life insurance contract that insured 32 the life of an individual of whom the debtor was a dependent on 33 the date of that individual’s death, to the extent reasonably 34 necessary for the support of the debtor and any dependent of the 35 debtor. 36 (13) The debtor’s right to receive individual retirement 37 accounts as described in Sections 408(a) and 408A of the Internal 38 Revenue Code, individual retirement annuities as described in 39 Section 408(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, and accounts 40 established as part of a trust described in Section 408(c) of the 41 Internal Revenue Code, to the extent reasonably necessary for the 42 support of the debtor and any dependent of the debtor. A claimed 43 exemption may be reduced or eliminated by the amount of a</p><p>[1352] 4 1 fraudulent conveyance into the individual retirement account or 2 other plan. For purposes of this item, ‘Internal Revenue Code’ has 3 the meaning provided in Section 12640(A). 4 (14) The debtor’s interest in a pension plan qualified under 5 the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as 6 amended. 7 (B) Beginning on July 1, 2008, and each evennumbered year 8 thereafter, each dollar amount in subsection (A), items (1) (2) 9 through (14), immediately before July first, must be adjusted to 10 reflect the change in the Southeastern Consumer Price Index, All 11 Urban Consumers, as published by the Department of Labor, 12 Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the most recent year ending 13 immediately before January first preceding July first, and to round 14 to the nearest twentyfive dollars, the dollar amount that represents 15 this change. No later than March first of each evennumbered year, 16 the Economic Research Section of the Office of Research and 17 Statistics of the State Budget and Control Board shall publish in 18 the State Register the dollar amounts that will become effective on 19 July first of each evennumbered year.” 20 21 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 22 Governor. 23 XX 24</p><p>[1352] 5</p>