South Carolina only · Charleston, Berkeley & Dorchester counties
South Carolina Probate Glossary
Plain words for the words you will hear after someone dies. Every term below is explained the way it works in South Carolina, not the way it works on TV or in another state.
Prepared for the Mills Team, millsteamre.com · September 2026
Nothing matches. Try a simpler word, like “will”, “house”, or “debt”.
Questions families ask first
Short answers, South Carolina rules. Each one links back to the words above.
What do I do first after someone dies?
Take care of the funeral and get 5 to 10 certified death certificates. Then look for the original will. Whoever has it must deliver it to the probate court in the county where the person lived within 30 days. Do not move money, sell anything, or change the locks on a house you do not own yet. Make a list of what the person owned and owed. That list is the start of everything.
Do we have to go through probate?
Only for property that was in the person's name alone with no named beneficiary. A house owned by one person, a bank account with no payable-on-death name, a car, and personal things usually go through probate. Joint accounts with right of survivorship, life insurance, retirement accounts, and anything in a trust skip it. If the person owned a house in their name alone, you almost always need probate in South Carolina.
How long does probate take in South Carolina?
Most simple estates take 9 to 12 months. The estate cannot close until 8 months after the notice to creditors runs in the newspaper, so there is no way to finish in a few weeks. A house that needs to be sold, a fight in the family, or an out-of-state heir can push it past a year.
How much does probate cost?
The probate court charges a filing fee on a sliding scale based on the size of the estate. It starts around $25 for the smallest estates and runs to a few hundred dollars for most. Add the cost of the newspaper notice, certified copies, and the attorney's fee if you hire one. The personal representative can also be paid from the estate for their work. All of it comes out of the estate before anyone inherits, not out of your pocket.
Can we sell the house before probate is finished?
Yes, in most cases. The personal representative can sell once the court appoints them, as long as the will gives them the power to sell. If the will does not say so, or there is no will, they usually need written consent from everyone who inherits or an order from the probate judge. The sale money goes into the estate account and is paid out at the end. Waiting until probate is fully closed is not required, and an empty house loses value every month.
Who is in charge of the estate?
The personal representative. If there is a will, it is the person the will names. If there is no will, the spouse has first choice, then the children, then other relatives. Nobody has any real power until the probate court issues a Certificate of Appointment. Until then, banks will not talk to you, and you cannot sign a deed.
What if there is no will?
South Carolina law decides who inherits. A spouse with no children gets everything. A spouse with children gets half, and the children split the rest. If there is no spouse, the children get it all. After that come parents, then brothers and sisters. The estate still goes through probate, and the court still appoints a personal representative. Not having a will does not mean the state takes the property.
Am I responsible for my parent's debts?
Usually not. Debts are paid by the estate, not by the family. If the estate runs out of money, the rest of the debt goes unpaid. You are only on the hook for a debt you co-signed or a joint credit card in your own name. Do not let a collector talk you into paying from your own account. In South Carolina, creditors have 8 months from the newspaper notice to file a claim, and after that they are usually out of luck.
Do we pay taxes on what we inherit?
South Carolina has no inheritance tax and no estate tax. The federal estate tax only touches very large estates. Money or a house you inherit is not income, so you do not pay income tax on it. If you sell an inherited house soon after the death, the step-up in basis usually means little or no capital gains tax. Money you pull out of an inherited retirement account is the one big exception. That counts as income.
The house is still in my parent's name. What do we do?
Open probate in the county where your parent lived. Once the personal representative is appointed, they either sell the house through the estate or sign a Deed of Distribution that moves it into the heirs' names. That deed gets recorded at the county Register of Deeds. Until one of those two things happens, the house cannot be sold, refinanced, or insured for a new owner. If your parent died years ago and nobody did this, you may be dealing with heirs' property, and it is worth getting help sooner rather than later.
Can I use my power of attorney to sell the house?
No. A power of attorney ends the moment the person dies. After that it is just a piece of paper. Anything signed with it after the death is not valid. The only person who can sell the house is the personal representative, after the court appoints them.
Do we need a lawyer?
South Carolina does not require one for informal probate, and some families with a small, simple estate handle it with help from the probate court staff. When there is a house, more than one heir, any debt, or any chance of a disagreement, most families hire a probate attorney. Separately, every real estate closing in South Carolina must go through a closing attorney. That part is not optional.
What if the family cannot agree?
The probate judge decides. Disagreements over who should be personal representative, whether the will is valid, or how to split things move the case from the informal track to formal probate, with hearings. It costs more and takes longer. Many families avoid it by agreeing early on one plan for the house, since the house is usually what people fight about.
What if the house still has a mortgage?
A regular mortgage keeps going. Somebody has to keep making the payments, or the lender can foreclose, even during probate. The estate can pay it, or the heir who wants the house can take over the loan. A reverse mortgage is different. It comes due at death, and the lender usually gives about 6 months to sell or pay it off. That clock started the day of the death.
Which probate court handles your case?
The case goes to the county where the person lived, not where the house is. Summerville sits in three counties, so check the address before you file.
Need to sell a home that is in probate?
The Mills Team has helped Tri-County families sell inherited homes for years. We work with your probate attorney and the closing attorney so nothing gets stuck.
Sources for the South Carolina rules on this page: the South Carolina Probate Code (Title 62 of the S.C. Code of Laws) and the county probate courts of Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester. Last reviewed September 2026.