South Carolina

South Carolina has a Probate Court in each of its 46 counties, with an elected probate judge.
The court issues letters testamentary, and administration runs under the South Carolina
Probate Code, which is built on the Uniform Probate Code but departs from it in places.

Informal or formal

• Informal proceedings are handled on the paperwork, without a hearing, and cover most
  uncontested estates.
• Formal proceedings go before the probate judge where the will is unclear or contested, an
  heir cannot be found, or a decision is needed.

The creditor clock

South Carolina requires the personal representative to publish a notice to creditors and to
give actual notice to those reasonably ascertainable. Claims are barred after the statutory period
— broadly eight months from first publication, subject to an outside limit from the date of death.
Confirm the current periods with the Probate Court; getting the publication out early starts the
clock and protects the estate.

Inventory and appraisement

An inventory and appraisement must be filed within the statutory period after appointment, and
a final accounting before the estate closes. South Carolina probate judges chase these.

No state death tax

South Carolina levies neither an estate nor an inheritance tax. Only the federal return can arise.

Before distributing

Let the creditor period run, settle the final income tax returns, file the accounting, and only
then distribute. A personal representative who distributes early and then meets a valid claim is
personally exposed.

A South Carolina will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another in the
testator's presence and at their direction), and signed by two witnesses in the presence of
the testator. The testator must be 18 or older, or an emancipated minor, and of sound mind.

South Carolina does not accept holographic wills

A handwritten will is perfectly fine provided two witnesses signed it. Unwitnessed, it is
not valid in South Carolina — the handwriting counts for nothing on its own.

This is a point where South Carolina departs from the Uniform Probate Code it otherwise largely
follows. Someone arriving from North Carolina — which does accept holographic wills, albeit on
demanding terms — will find their handwritten will stops working at the state line.

South Carolina will, however, generally recognise a will that was validly executed under the law
of the place where it was made, so a holographic will made and valid elsewhere may still be
admitted here. Take advice rather than assuming either way.

Make it self-proving

Attach a self-proving affidavit signed before a notary at the same time as the will. Without one,
a witness has to be found and produced after the death.

Practical points

• Name an alternate personal representative and consider expressly waiving bond, which
  saves the estate a real premium.
• A surviving spouse has an elective share whatever the will says.
• Consider how the will interacts with a property's homestead exemption and any agricultural
  use valuation, both of which can change on transfer.
• Review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to South Carolina — the state has a large
  population of people who retired here from somewhere else, and an out-of-state will is worth a
  local review even where it remains valid.

Yes, and South Carolina sets the ceiling by statute in two parts.

The statutory maximum

Under S.C. Code § 62-3-719 a personal representative may receive up to:

• 5% of the appraised value of the personal property of the probate estate, plus the
  sale proceeds of real property sold under the will or a court order, and
• 5% of the income earned by the probate estate.

There is a minimum commission of $50 regardless of how small the estate is. Confirm the
current figures against the statute.

What is and is not in the base

The commission is calculated on personal property and on real property that is actually sold.
Real property that simply passes to the beneficiaries is not in the base — so an estate consisting
largely of a house transferred rather than sold generates far less commission than its headline
value suggests.

The forfeiture provision

This is the part worth reading twice. The additional income commission is not payable at all
if the probate judge determines that the personal representative acted unreasonably in
carrying out their duties, or that there has been unreasonable delay. South Carolina puts a
direct financial penalty on a slow or careless administration.

How it is approved

Commission is claimed on the accounting and allowed by the Probate Court, or agreed by all the
beneficiaries in writing. Settle it before taking it.

If the will fixes the figure

A will provision governs where the representative accepts on those terms.

Tax

Commission is taxable income; an inheritance is not. With no South Carolina death tax to
deduct it against, a family representative who is also a beneficiary often does better declining.

A South Carolina personal representative is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable
expenses of administration, separately from the statutory commission. They appear on the
accounting filed with the Probate Court, so they will be read.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, the headstone, and a reasonable reception.
• Probate Court filing fees — which in South Carolina are scaled to the value of the estate —
  certified letters, certified death certificates, and publication of the notice to creditors.
• Attorney's fees, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040 and any Form 1041.
• Appraisers' fees for the inventory and appraisement, which is a required filing here.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: insurance — including windstorm and flood cover
  on coastal property, which is expensive and must not be allowed to lapse — property tax,
  utilities, security, maintenance, lawn care and pest control.
• Hurricane preparation and storm damage mitigation: boarding up, tarping, tree removal.
• Homeowners' or property owners' association assessments.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents, including a beach property.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate.
• Bond premiums where the will did not waive bond.

Normally not claimable

• The representative's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account and run everything through it. Since South Carolina can withhold
the income commission for unreasonable delay, a dated log showing steady progress protects
your fee as well as your expenses.

Most South Carolina estates are administered by a family member working with the county Probate
Court. A bank trust department or an attorney serving as personal representative earns its
cost in specific cases.

Consider a professional when

• The named representative lives out of state. This is the common South Carolina case, given
  how many residents retired here while their children stayed elsewhere. A non-resident will
  generally need to appoint an agent for service, may face a bond requirement, and has to deal
  with a county Probate Court and a coastal property from a distance.
• The estate holds coastal or waterfront property, where insurance, flood exposure and storm
  damage all have to be actively managed rather than left.
• There is an operating business, farmland or timberland.
• Heirs' property is involved — land held undivided by many descendants without clear title,
  a serious and well-documented issue in South Carolina. Untangling it is specialist work and
  doing nothing risks a forced partition sale.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage, referenced to the § 62-3-719 ceiling, often
with a minimum annual fee. Attorneys generally bill hourly. Ask for either in writing.

Middle ground

Appoint a family member, waive bond in the will, and let them retain a South Carolina attorney
at the estate's expense to handle the inventory, the creditor notice and the accounting.

A named representative who does not want the job can decline before appointment.