South Carolina Small Estate Affidavit

South Carolina small estate rules at a glance

Can you use it?

You can generally use the South Carolina shortcut when all of these are true:

• The probate estate is $45,000 or less (probate estate after liens, raised from $25,000 on May 8, 2025).
• Timing: more than 30 days after the death.
• No one has been appointed, or applied to be appointed, executor or administrator.
• Real estate: no. The affidavit covers personal property.

Other South Carolina rules

• A summary administration route under §§ 62-3-1203 and 62-3-1204 covers estates of $45,000 or less after expenses.

How to use the South Carolina affidavit

1. Add up the probate estate. List what the person owned in their name alone, with no beneficiary or surviving joint owner, at its value on the date of death.
2. Check the timing. More than 30 days after the death.
3. Get the paperwork. Ask the probate court clerk in the county where the person lived for the current form.
4. Sign it under oath, usually before a notary, listing each person entitled to the property and their share.
5. File it. The probate judge in the county where the person lived approves and countersigns it. Once the court accepts it, banks and other holders release the property.
6. Pay debts and distribute. Pay the funeral and valid debts, then distribute under the will or South Carolina's intestacy law. If you take more than your share, the other heirs and creditors can come after you for it.

The person's final income tax return is still due by April 15 of the year after the death. See the final tax returns guide, and Form 1310 to claim a refund without an executor.

A car title moves through the state's motor vehicle office, which has its own forms: see how to transfer a car title after death.

If the estate is over the limit

Then the estate goes through probate: the court appoints an executor, who gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration when there is no will) and settles the estate. South Carolina's court and forms are in the probate forms by state table. In South Carolina, creditors have this long to claim: 8 months after first publication, or 1 year after the death if that comes first. See how long probate takes in South Carolina.

Use the probate cost calculator to estimate the court, attorney and executor fees.

South Carolina taxes on a small estate

South Carolina has no estate or inheritance tax, so a small estate owes no state death tax. See South Carolina estate tax for the rules heirs still meet, such as income tax on an inherited IRA.

Small estate affidavits in other states

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Or compare them all in the 50-state table.

Related guides

• Letters testamentary: how executors get them, by state
• What is probate? How it works, step by step
• How long does probate take? Timeline by state
• Probate cost calculator: fees by state
• Probate court forms by state
• Transfer a car title after death, by state
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund