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S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-50

Effect of release, covenant not to sue, or not to enforce judgment

Known as the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act

The act spans §§ 15-38-10 to 15-38-70 (9 sections).

Applied in 18 court decisions — leading case Welch v. Epstein (2000)

Most recently applied in Stoneledge At Lake Keowee Owners' Ass'n, Inc. v. Imk Dev. Co. (October 2018)

1988 Act No. 432, SECTION 5.

How often courts cite this section

198920002010201830
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

When a release or a covenant not to sue or not to enforce judgment is given in good faith to one of two or more persons liable in tort for the same injury or the same wrongful death:

(1) it does not discharge any of the other tortfeasors from liability for the injury or wrongful death unless its terms so provide, but it reduces the claim against the others to the extent of any amount stipulated by the release or the covenant, or in the amount of the consideration paid for it, whichever is the greater; and

(2) it discharges the tortfeasor to whom it is given from all liability for contribution to any other tortfeasor.

Official source: South Carolina Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.