Browse practical legal insights from Gem McDowell Law Group on business law, contracts, estate planning, trusts, real estate, powers of attorney, HOA matters, and South Carolina legal issues. Select a topic below or use the search bar to quickly find articles related to your legal question.
Estate, Trusts & Family
Does a trustee have a duty to the beneficiary or to the purpose of the trust? These are often in alignment, and the trustee doesn’t have to choose one over the other. But sometimes they are in conflict, and that’s where issues arise. This is not just an abstract legal concept; it has consequences in [...]
In South Carolina, a trustee of a trust can be removed in one of two ways: either in accordance with the terms of the trust or by a court under state trust law. Below, we’ll look at both in turn. A Trustee Can Be Removed Under State Law South Carolina Code Section 62-7-706 covers the [...]
A new bill to help owners of heirs’ property in South Carolina resolve title issues was signed into law by Gov. McMaster on May 15, 2026. H. 4477 passed unanimously in both the S.C. Senate and the House within the last month and was ratified on May 14. The widespread support for this bill reflects [...]
In a power of attorney (POA), “hot powers” are powers that must be explicitly granted by the principal to the agent. They differ from powers that are implied. “Hot Powers” Under the UPOAA Under § 201 of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA), a model law, the agent must be expressly granted the power [...]
Great news for high-net-worth individuals and families in South Carolina: You now have the ability to direct what happens to your property for much longer after your death. Previously, long-term estate planning had an effective limit of 90 years, or about three generations. Now, South Carolina residents can create trusts to protect and manage assets [...]
The answer: Yes, maybe. Your soon-to-be ex could very well have the legal right to claim one-third of your probate estate in South Carolina if you die before the divorce is finalized and filed. But there is some nuance to this topic, so let’s get into it. Elective share is the portion of a deceased [...]
A trustee of a trust is a fiduciary with a legal duty to act in the best interest of the trust beneficiary or beneficiaries in accordance with the terms and purpose of the trust. The choice of trustee is an important one, which is why it should not be an afterthought when drawing up the [...]
In a standard trust, a trustee is appointed who is responsible for handling the investment of trust assets, distributions to beneficiaries, and administrative tasks like keeping records and filing taxes. With a directed trust, a “trust director” is also appointed in addition to the trustee. A trust director (sometimes called a trust advisor) takes an [...]
Family investment companies (FICs) are becoming increasingly common among high-net-worth families. An FIC is typically a family-held LLC or family limited partnership (FLP) in which a wealthy founder transfers assets into the company, and other family members become partners or members in the business. Creating an FIC can be a good way to protect and [...]
Business & Contracts
We covered invoice factoring – the good, the bad, and the predatory – in a previous blog. Below, we’ll look at one of the rare cases involving invoice factoring to make it to the high courts, the 2024 South Carolina Court of Appeals case Associated Receivables Funding, Inc. vs. Classic Industrial Services, Inc. (find it [...]
When a company needs cash fast, one option is to sell its receivables in the form of unpaid invoices at a discount to a third-party business called a factor. The factor collects payment for a fee, and the business gets cash in hand without having to take on debt or put up collateral. Sounds great, [...]
Is it smart to include a right of first refusal (ROFR) clause in a contract? Not always. If you’re the property owner/potential seller, think twice before including a ROFR in your contract. The ROFR tends to favor the potential buyer while restraining the seller. Below, we’ll look at what you, as a property owner, should [...]
What happens when you’re in business with someone whose behavior harms the LLC but who refuses to leave voluntarily? Ideally, you have a well-drafted buy-sell agreement or operating agreement that addresses this exact situation and clearly lays out next steps. If not, you may be able to go to court to pursue judicial dissociation, the [...]
Buy-sell agreements cannot be relied on to determine the value of a business for the purposes of estate tax or gift tax. If the IRS believes that a closely held business, or an interest in it, has a higher fair market value (FMV) than the one determined by a buy-sell agreement, it may use that [...]
Family investment companies (FICs) are becoming increasingly common among high-net-worth families. An FIC is typically a family-held LLC or family limited partnership (FLP) in which a wealthy founder transfers assets into the company, and other family members become partners or members in the business. Creating an FIC can be a good way to protect and [...]
If you sign a contact, you and the other parties signing are automatically subject to the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, an implied principle that holds parties to a standard of fairness and honesty in carrying out the contract. The covenant does not create or impose new obligations on parties to a contract; [...]
Adhesion contracts are “take-it-or-leave-it” contracts where the contract-writing party dictates the terms and the contract-signing party has little to no room to negotiate. It’s often a large company writing the contract and an individual consumer signing it. We recently covered the topic in our blog “Can I Get Out of a One-Sided Contract? Adhesion Contracts [...]
UPDATE 03/04/25: In 2024, the Supreme Court of South Carolina took up Huskins v. Mungo Homes where it addressed the issue of adhesion contracts. The takeaway: South Carolina courts will no longer sever illegal or unenforceable terms that violate public policy from an agreement lacking a severability clause, potentially rendering the entire agreement, or substantial sections [...]
Real Estate & Property
Is a right of first refusal (ROFR) always a good thing? No. Many property owners have found out through bitter experience that a ROFR granting another party first dibs to purchase the property can become a big hindrance. We’ve covered the pros and cons of granting a ROFR to a potential buyer in a previous [...]
Is it smart to include a right of first refusal (ROFR) clause in a contract? Not always. If you’re the property owner/potential seller, think twice before including a ROFR in your contract. The ROFR tends to favor the potential buyer while restraining the seller. Below, we’ll look at what you, as a property owner, should [...]
A new bill to help owners of heirs’ property in South Carolina resolve title issues was signed into law by Gov. McMaster on May 15, 2026. H. 4477 passed unanimously in both the S.C. Senate and the House within the last month and was ratified on May 14. The widespread support for this bill reflects [...]
If you’re like most Americans, your home is your single most valuable asset. Yet you could lose it with just one signature. This is what happened to Gloria Ormand-Ward, the Appellant in the Court of Appeals of South Carolina case Ormand-Ward v. Litt (2025) (find the PDF here). Below, we’ll look at how one South [...]
The Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP) is a legal doctrine that limits certain types of future property rights to prevent long-term “dead-hand control” and keep property freely transferable. South Carolina’s RAP laws were humming along for nearly four decades without any significant changes until just this last year. Those changes: South Carolina extended the “wait-and-see” vesting [...]
Great news for high-net-worth individuals and families in South Carolina: You now have the ability to direct what happens to your property for much longer after your death. Previously, long-term estate planning had an effective limit of 90 years, or about three generations. Now, South Carolina residents can create trusts to protect and manage assets [...]
A farmer in Newberry County, SC, purchased land that was cut off from the main road. To access his land, he habitually used a dirt road on land owned by a neighbor. This went on for years. At first, the neighbor on the adjacent parcel gave the farmer permission to use the dirt road, but [...]
What happens if an easement is abandoned? While most easements in South Carolina last indefinitely, abandonment is one way to extinguish an easement. In that instance, the original rights revert to the property owner(s). This sounds straightforward enough, but, as with many legal matters, sometimes straightforward things get complicated. Case in point: the 2023 South [...]
The Supreme Court of South Carolina rejected the mortgage replacement doctrine in the 2023 case ArrowPointe Federal Credit Union v. Bailey (PDF), upholding the decision of the SC Court of Appeals. Under the replacement mortgage doctrine, if an older (original) mortgage is released and replaced with a new mortgage in the same transaction, the newer [...]
