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Subcommittee clears bill to treat cooperative patronage capital accounts as probate accounts
Summary
House Bill 3914, given a favorable report 5-0 by the Domestic Relations Business and Probate Law Subcommittee, would amend the South Carolina Probate Code to include patronage capital accounts held by electric or telephone cooperative members within the definition of an "account" for probate purposes, clarifying how such funds pass on death.
House Bill 3914 received a unanimous favorable report from the Domestic Relations Business and Probate Law Subcommittee after members discussed language to include cooperative patronage capital accounts in the South Carolina Probate Code definition of an "account."
The bill would expand the probate-code definition of account to cover patronage capital accounts maintained by members of electric or telephone cooperatives. Patronage capital accounts reflect a member's allocated share of surplus earnings, typically based on payments for services or capital contributions; under current law such accounts are not explicitly treated as financial accounts for probate purposes.
Sponsor remarks explained that including those accounts within the probate definition would clarify how the funds pass on a member’s death—either directly to surviving co‑owners if the account includes survivorship language or into the decedent’s estate. The sponsor noted one practical example involving a narrow, low-value payment: "this doesn't happen a lot, but in his situation, his mother passed away. The only thing she had that was a check from, an entity for $67 he would have had to open a probate estate, go through the whole process for $67 So this is a good thing to help these people for something like that."
The bill as discussed would take effect July 1, 2025, if enacted. The subcommittee voted 5-0 on a roll call to give HB 3914 a favorable report; Representatives Bernstein, Calhoun, Guest, King and Martin recorded "aye." The favorable report advances the clarification to further legislative consideration.
The measure is procedural in nature and aims to reduce small estates' administrative burdens by specifying how cooperative patronage capital should be treated under probate and nonprobate transfer rules.
