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Key takeaways: South Carolina estates are governed by the South Carolina Probate Code, Title 62. Without a will, Title 62 Article 2 decides who inherits, and for many families that result is not what they would have chosen. A complete plan is five documents: a will, a durable power of attorney, a health care power of attorney, a living will, and in many cases a revocable trust. Beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts pass outside the will and override it, which is the single most common reason a South Carolina plan fails. A surviving spouse may claim an elective share of one third of the probate estate under S.C. Code § 62-2-201 regardless of what the will says.
What happens if you do nothing
Everyone in South Carolina has an estate plan. If you have not written one, the General Assembly has written it for you, and it is in Title 62 Article 2 of the South Carolina Code of Laws.
The intestacy result surprises people. Where there is a surviving spouse and children, the spouse takes one half and the children share the other half. Not all to the spouse. Half. For a couple whose main asset is the family home, that means the surviving spouse may own the house jointly with adult children, or with minor children whose shares require a conservatorship.
That is the real argument for a will. It is not about tax, and for most families it is not about complexity. It is about the default being wrong.
The five documents
The will. It names who inherits, who serves as personal representative, and, if you have young children, who raises them. That last one is the provision parents most often postpone and most regret postponing. A South Carolina will must be signed by the testator and witnessed by two people under S.C. Code § 62-2-502. Adding a self-proving affidavit at signing saves your family from having to track down witnesses years later.
The durable power of attorney. This lets someone you choose manage your finances if you cannot. South Carolina adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, and under S.C. Code § 62-8-106 a power of attorney must be signed, witnessed and acknowledged. Get the formalities right, because banks in this state do scrutinise them.
The health care power of attorney. The medical equivalent. Without it, doctors turn to a statutory list of surrogates, which may not be the person you would pick and does not handle disagreement well.
The living will. Formally the Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death, this states your wishes about life-sustaining treatment. It is the document that spares a family from guessing during the worst week of their lives.
The trust, where it fits. Not every family needs one. Where a family owns property in more than one state, has a beneficiary who should not receive a lump sum, or wants privacy, a revocable trust earns its place. Our estate planning page explains when it does and does not.
The thing that quietly overrides everything
If you take one point from this article, take this one. Beneficiary designations beat your will.
Life insurance, 401(k)s, IRAs, annuities and payable-on-death accounts pass to whoever is named on the form held by the institution. The will does not touch them. A South Carolina will leaving everything equally to three children does nothing about a 401(k) that still names an ex-spouse from 1998, and that 401(k) may be the largest asset in the estate.
We ask every new client to pull their designations before we draft anything. It is unglamorous and it is the single highest-value hour in the engagement. Stale designations are the most common failure mode we see, by a wide margin.
The elective share, and why disinheriting a spouse does not work
South Carolina protects surviving spouses. Under S.C. Code § 62-2-201 a surviving spouse may elect to take one third of the decedent’s probate estate, regardless of what the will provides.
This matters most in second marriages, where a will leaving everything to children from a first marriage runs directly into the elective share. Where that is the intention, it has to be planned for deliberately, usually through a marital agreement or by using non-probate structures, not by drafting a will and hoping.
Probate in South Carolina, briefly
South Carolina probate runs through the county Probate Court and may be informal or formal. Informal probate handles most uncontested estates. The deadline that catches families out is the creditor bar: claims are generally barred one year after the date of death under S.C. Code § 62-3-803, which is longer than several neighbouring states and shapes how quickly an estate can safely close.
Estates of $25,000 or less in probate assets may qualify for the small estate procedure by affidavit, which is considerably faster. See our probate and estate administration page, and the South Carolina Judicial Branch publishes the forms.
Frequently asked questions
Is a handwritten will valid in South Carolina?
Generally no. South Carolina does not recognise holographic wills executed in this state; two witnesses are required. A holographic will valid where it was executed may be honoured, but it is not something to rely on.
Do I need a lawyer to write a will in South Carolina?
Not legally. But the failures we see are almost never grammatical, they are structural: a form will that ignores a blended family, a trust that was drafted and never funded, designations nobody checked. Those are the errors a form cannot catch.
Does a will avoid probate?
No. A will directs probate; it does not avoid it. Avoiding probate takes a funded trust, joint ownership or beneficiary designations.
How often should a plan be reviewed?
Every three to five years, and immediately after a marriage, divorce, birth, death, business sale or move to another state. A move matters more than people expect, because execution formalities differ.
We live in Fort Mill and work in Charlotte. Which state’s law applies?
Your domicile governs your personal property and the administration of your estate, and real property is governed by the state where it sits. Families straddling the border frequently need both states considered, which is why we keep offices in Rock Hill and Charlotte.
If your documents are more than five years old, or you have never checked your beneficiary designations, book a review.
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