Where the estate is opened.
Only if the statute's conditions are met. Read the section below.
See the tax section for the exemption or the repeal.
Living trust or probate
A revocable living trust holds assets you title in the trustee's name. You can serve as trustee while you are able.
At death, the successor trustee handles those assets. Property you leave in your own name can still go through the probate court. A pour-over will sends leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may pass through probate first.
The probate path
In South Carolina, the estate is opened in the Probate Court.
Title 62 is the South Carolina Probate Code. Section 62-3-102 states that, except as provided in section 62-3-1201 and except for a will admitted elsewhere and filed as provided in Article 4, a will must be declared valid by an order of informal probate by the court or an adjudication of probate by the court to prove a transfer of property or to nominate a personal representative. Section 62-3-701 states that the duties and powers of a personal representative commence upon appointment. Section 62-3-1201 requires the small-estate affidavit to be filed in the probate court and approved by the probate judge.
Source: South Carolina Code section 62-3-102
Fees
In South Carolina, probate compensation is a statutory maximum.
Section 62-3-719 states that, unless otherwise approved by the court for extraordinary services, a personal representative shall receive a sum from the probate estate funds not to exceed five percent of the appraised value of the personal property of the probate estate plus the sales proceeds of real property of the probate estate received on sales directed or authorized by will or by proper court order, except sales to the personal representative as purchaser. The minimum commission is fifty dollars. The personal representative may also receive not more than five percent of the income earned by the probate estate. If more than one personal representative serves, the total must not exceed the maximum for a sole personal representative. The section does not apply where a contract provides the compensation, where the will otherwise directs, or where the personal representative qualified before June 28, 1984. This is a cap, not a graduated bracket schedule.
Source: South Carolina Code section 62-3-719
Small estate
South Carolina's small-estate figure on this page is $45,000 when the statute's conditions are met.
Section 62-3-1201 allows collection of personal property by affidavit thirty days after death. Before the affidavit may be presented, it must state that the value of the entire probate estate, defined as the decedent's property passing under the will plus the decedent's property passing by intestacy, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars. It must also state that thirty days have elapsed and that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted. The affidavit must be approved and countersigned by the probate judge and filed in the probate court. Section 62-3-1203 is a separate summary procedure if the inventory shows the entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars and exempt property, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness.
Source: South Carolina Code section 62-3-1201
Estate or inheritance tax
South Carolina has no current estate tax on the page linked below.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue states that South Carolina has no Estate Tax for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2005. That page does not mention an inheritance tax.
Source: South Carolina Department of Revenue, Estate Tax
Questions
The answers use the same statute and court pages as the sections above.
Does a living trust avoid probate in South Carolina?
A revocable living trust holds the assets you title in the trustee's name. The successor trustee handles those assets. Property still titled in your own name can be a probate matter. A pour-over will can send leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may still pass through probate first.
What is the small-estate procedure in South Carolina?
Section 62-3-1201 allows collection of personal property by affidavit thirty days after death. Before the affidavit may be presented, it must state that the value of the entire probate estate, defined as the decedent's property passing under the will plus the decedent's property passing by intestacy, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars. It must also state that thirty days have elapsed and that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted. The affidavit must be approved and countersigned by the probate judge and filed in the probate court. Section 62-3-1203 is a separate summary procedure if the inventory shows the entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars and exempt property, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness.
How are probate fees set in South Carolina?
Section 62-3-719 states that, unless otherwise approved by the court for extraordinary services, a personal representative shall receive a sum from the probate estate funds not to exceed five percent of the appraised value of the personal property of the probate estate plus the sales proceeds of real property of the probate estate received on sales directed or authorized by will or by proper court order, except sales to the personal representative as purchaser. The minimum commission is fifty dollars. The personal representative may also receive not more than five percent of the income earned by the probate estate. If more than one personal representative serves, the total must not exceed the maximum for a sole personal representative. The section does not apply where a contract provides the compensation, where the will otherwise directs, or where the personal representative qualified before June 28, 1984. This is a cap, not a graduated bracket schedule.
Does South Carolina tax an estate or an inheritance?
The South Carolina Department of Revenue states that South Carolina has no Estate Tax for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2005. That page does not mention an inheritance tax.
Sources
These are the statute and court pages used above.