Charleston County, South Carolina Probate Court

Ravenel, South Carolina 29470
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1. Where do I file a petition for probate in Charleston County, South Carolina?

In the South Carolina Court system, probate is handled by the "Probate Courts"

Charleston County Probate Court

WEB ADDRESS:

Website Link

https://www.charlestoncounty.org/departments/probate/index.php

ADDRESS:

Charleston County Probate Court, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401

MAP:

GoogleMap

Directory of all South Carolina Probate Courts

South Carolina Probate Court Locator


2. What's the phone number for the probate court for Charleston County, SC?:


4. Where Can I Find Probate Forms for Charleston County, South Carolina?

STATE

South Carolina Probate Forms, for use in all of South Carolina

South Carolina Probate Forms

COUNTY-SPECIFIC

Additional Local Probate Forms specifcally for Charleston County court

Charleston County Probate Forms:

https://www.charlestoncounty.org/departments/probate/forms-instructions.php


5. How much does it cost to file a petition for probate in Charleston County, South Carolina?

Click the links below.

South Carolina Probate Fees URL

Charleston County Probate Fees Page

Probate Court Fee Schedule

South Carolina code section 8-21-770(B) states fees for Estate and Conservatorship proceedings are determined on the gross value of probate assets as follows:

Property Valuation Amount
Less than $5,000.00 $25.00
$5,000.00 but Less than $20,000.00 $45.00
$20,000.00 but Less than $60,000.00 $67.50
$60,000.00 but Less than $100,000.00 $95.00
$100,000.00 but Less than $625,000.00
plus .15 Percent of the property valuation between $100,000.00 and $600,000.00
$95.00
Property valuation of $625,000.00 or higher amount set forth in (5) about plus 1/4 of 1% of the property valuation above $600,000.00.
Note: Non-Probate assets are not part of the fee calculation

 

Other Fees Amount
Filing Will for record only $10.00
Recording certified Estate records from other Counties $20.00
Recording exemplifications from Out-of-State $20.00
Issuing Exemplified/Authenticated copy $20.00
Appointment of Successor/Subsequent P/R Trustee or Special or Temporary Administrator $22.50
Approval of Settlement Order (Minors/Incompetents) $150.00
Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem $3.50
Marriage License fee $70.00
Certified copy of Marriage License $5.00
Reforming or Correcting marriage record $6.75
Certified Copy of Estate record $5.00
Filing Conservatorsihp accountings $10.00
Filing demand for notice $5.00
Certifying Appeal records $10.00
Filing the initial petition in any action or proceeding other than above, same fee as charged for filing civil actions in Circuit Court $150.00
Copy machine copy $0.50
Microfilm copy $0.50
Certificates of appointment (After initial four) $0.50
Filing affidavit for collection of personal property under section 62-2-1202(A), the fee pursuant to item (1) above based upon property valuation shown, provided that where the property valuation is less than $100.00 the fee shall be one-half the amount otherwise provided.
The costs of the notice to creditors or other legal advertisement are in addition to prescribed Court costs and are due and payable prior to publication of advertisement.


6. What's the URL for the State or County land records office?

In order to transfer ownership of real property after someone dies, you need to find the last recorded property deed. A county land records office is the place to research and request such deeds.

STATE

State Land Records Office

COUNTY

County Land Records Office



South Carolina Probate Tips:

Here's a collection of essential tips to help you navigate the probate process.

7 Key Facts About Transferring Property at Death in South Carolina

  1. Some (most?) property can transfer directly to beneficiaries without probate or a will, such as assets with named beneficiaries like life insurance or retirement accounts, assets owned jointly with right of survivorship, and assets held in living trusts.
  2. If you die with a will (testate), your property that is subject to probate will be distributed according to the instructions in your will. Your will must be submitted to probate court after your death.
  3. If you die without a will (intestate), your property that goes through probate will be distributed according to South Carolina's intestate succession laws. Generally, your property goes to your closest relatives in a certain order of priority.
  4. The probate process in most states typically takes 6-12 months. The personal representative named in your will files paperwork with the court to open probate and manages the process of inventorying assets, paying debts, and distributing property. 
  5. Most states have a simplified probate procedure for small estates (under a certain amount). The estate can be transferred with an affidavit 30 days after death if there is no will. 
  6. Property transferred at death receives a stepped-up cost basis, meaning the heir's capital gains tax is calculated based on the market value at the time of death rather than the decedent's original purchase price. That's a HUGE tax advantage for those with generational wealth. You can tell who writes the tax laws....
  7. Most states do not have a state estate tax or inheritance tax. Federal estate tax applies to estates over $12.92 million for an individual or $25.84 million for a married couple. This means estates worth less than this amount are not subject to federal estate tax. For estates that exceed the limit, the tax rate is progressive, starting at 18% and reaching a maximum of 40%. Those estates may need to file a federal estate tax return.

Proper estate planning and asset titling (including the use of Pay on Death Deeds, available in most states) can help ease the property transfer process in South Carolina, which may be available in your state.

See Also:

AI Tools (ChatGPT, etc.)

AI Tools May be Able to get more information about filing in Charleston County, but check the results before relying on them

AI tools on the web can be a great help to legal research. Click on the prompt below to copy it, then click your favorite generative AI tool and paste it in and see what you get. For this kind of prompt, asking for current information, we suggest Google Bard as your best bet.

TRY THIS PROMPT

Where is the Probate Court for Charleston County, South Carolina, how much are the fees, and where can I download forms I may need?

Try this prompt on:
Perplexity.ai Google Gemini ChatGPT4Claude.ai

Of all the tools above:

  • Googe Gemini - **** (four stars) is likely to give you the most accurate, up to date answer, (as of July 2023, the last time we tested.)
  • ChatGPT4  **** (four stars) s of July 2023 would not even answer queries like this, but in January 2024, it's giving a very good answer in many cases, filled with relevant details and links to source material.
  • Perplexity  **** (FIVE stars) as February 2024; this may be our new favorite because of the way it conducts its research and tells you the basis for its answers, which you can then review yourself.
  • Claude AI - * as of October 2023, we cannot recommend this tool because of its alarming willingness to give fictitious phone numbers, addresses, and nonsense URLs!

Common Mistakes that AI Tools make

  1. Street names and addresses can get garbled. Sometimes it will be the right number but the wrong Street
  2. Amounts and limits are sometimes not updated for inflation adjustments.
    • Many states adjust limits for inflation.
    • Most AI tools miss this. 
      • But if you prompt them to check for inflation adjustments, they may get it right if you prompt them to check for it. 
  3. Don't ever rely on AI for case law research. All of them fail at this, at least for now (September 2023), and are VERY prone to making up cases that don't exist.

Click here for more tips on how to use generative AI as your probate assistant.


Books, Software & Electronic Forms

eForms

eForms is a relative newcomer on the Access to Justice front and does a fine job of offering filli-in forms for every state for a wide range of everyday consumer law matters. For inheritance law, they offer the following forms:

  • Small Estate Affidavit for South Carolina: eForms offers Small Estate Affidavits for every state and provides helpful step by step videos on how to use them.
  • Transfer on Death (TOD) Deeds: a useful document available in most states as a way of transferring real estate at death without the complexity of setting up a living trust or the drawbacks of establishing joint ownership during lifetime. (Also available as part of WillMaker software (below).

Nolo (Press) Books

Nolo (formerly Nolo Press) has been explaining probate and estate planning to consumers for 40 years, and offers several fine publications. For inheritance law, they offer the following publications:

  • The Executors Guide: ***** Highly Recommended ***** An indispensable guide to helping deal with what needs to happen in the days, weeks, and months after a loved one dies. The week by week step-by-step checklists are a godsend for anyone charged with handling legal affairs in the difficult days after the passing of a loved one.
  • WillMaker Software: ***** Highly Recommended ***** WillMaker makes more than just wills. This software has evolved over the years to now offer a wide variety of useful estate planning documents including 
    • Transfer on Death (TOD) Deeds - also offered by eForms, Transfer on Death deeds are included in the price of WillMaker. 
    • Self Proving Affidavit - every WillMaker will includes a self-proving affidavit to make the probate process faster when the time comes.
  • Electronic and Kindle editions of all Nolo Books can also be purchased through Amazon.

Probate Lawyers

A local probate lawyer can take care of everything if you'd like to go that way. There are several directories of probate lawyers on the web including the following 

  • Justia Ravenel, SC Probate Lawyer Directory - Justia is one of the most established lawyer directories on the internet and has lawyers listed most jurisdictions. Some will even answer questions online.
  • Nolo/Martindale Ravenel, SC Probate Lawyer Directory
    • In your zip code is served by lawyers in the Nolo/Martindale Lawyer Directory, we offer simple form for you to give them a few details about your case and they can contact you.

Legal Aid options for Ravenel, SC

  • may have options to help you.

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Free Probate Case Evaluation For Ravenel, SC

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