(a) A payor or collecting bank’s authority to accept, pay, or collect an item or to account for proceeds of its collection, if otherwise effective, is not rendered ineffective by incompetence of a customer of either bank existing at the time the item is issued or its collection is undertaken if the bank does not know of an adjudication of incompetence. Neither death nor incompetence of a customer revokes the authority to accept, pay, collect, or account until the bank knows of the fact of death or of an adjudication of incompetence and has reasonable opportunity to act on it.

(b) Even with knowledge, a bank may for 10 days after the date of death pay or certify checks drawn on or before that date unless ordered to stop payment by a person claiming an interest in the account.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 36-4-405

  • Account: means any deposit or credit account with a bank, including a demand, time, savings, passbook, share draft, or like account, other than an account evidenced by a certificate of deposit;

    (2) "Afternoon" means the period of a day between noon and midnight;

    (3) "Banking day" means the part of a day on which a bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its banking functions;

    (4) "Clearing house" means an association of banks or other payors regularly clearing items;

    (5) "Customer" means a person having an account with a bank or for whom a bank has agreed to collect items, including a bank that maintains an account at another bank;

    (6) "Documentary draft" means a draft to be presented for acceptance or payment if specified documents, certificated securities (§ 36-8-102) or instructions for uncertificated securities (§ 36-8-102), or other certificates, statements, or the like are to be received by the drawee or other payor before acceptance or payment of the draft;

    (7) "Draft" means a draft as defined in § 36-3-104 or an item, other than an instrument, that is an order;

    (8) "Drawee" means a person ordered in a draft to make payment;

    (9) "Item" means an instrument or a promise or order to pay money handled by a bank for collection or payment. See South Carolina Code 36-4-104