Is a Transfer on Death Deed Available in South Carolina?

A transfer on death deed is not available for real estate in South Carolina. The state has never enacted a statute authorizing TOD deeds, so a property owner cannot record a deed that names a beneficiary and passes the home outside probate at death. To keep real estate out of probate here, you have to use one of three other tools: a revocable living trust, a life estate deed, or joint ownership with right of survivorship. Each does the job, and each comes with trade-offs the TOD deed was designed to avoid.

Two bills in the 2025–2026 legislative session would change this. Senate Bill 49 would create a TOD designation for real property, and House Bill 4264 would authorize enhanced life estate (Lady Bird) deeds.¹² Both remain in committee. Until one passes, the alternatives below are what South Carolina residents have.

Revocable Living Trust

A revocable living trust is the closest functional substitute for a TOD deed. You create the trust, transfer the deed to your home into the trust’s name, and name a beneficiary who receives the property when you die. Because the trust owns the property, it does not pass through probate.

You keep full control while you’re alive. South Carolina presumes a trust is revocable unless the document says otherwise, so you can change the beneficiary, sell the home, or dissolve the trust at any time.³ The trust document itself stays private; only the deed transferring the property into the trust is recorded.

The main downside is cost. Attorney fees for a standard revocable trust generally run between $1,500 and $4,000, and complex estates cost more. The other risk is a paperwork failure: if you set up the trust but never re-title the deed, the property is still owned by you personally and still goes through probate when you die. A trust only works if it is actually funded.

Life Estate Deed

A life estate deed is simpler and cheaper. You sign and record a new deed that gives a remainder interest to your chosen beneficiary while reserving to yourself the right to live in and use the property for the rest of your life. When you die, the remainderman owns the property outright, and no probate is needed.

The catch is that the deed is essentially permanent. Once it’s recorded, the remainderman has a vested interest, and you cannot sell the property, refinance it, or take out a new mortgage without their signature. If the remainderman dies before you do, their interest passes to their own heirs, and you may end up sharing ownership with people you did not choose. If your relationship with the remainderman sours, or you need to tap the equity for long-term care, you are locked in.

Life estates do carry an important tax benefit. Because you keep an interest in the property until death, the home is included in your estate for federal tax purposes, and your beneficiary’s basis is stepped up to the fair market value on the date of death.⁴ For a home that has appreciated substantially, that step-up can save the beneficiary tens of thousands in capital gains tax if they later sell.

Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship

Adding another person to the deed as a joint tenant with right of survivorship is the most straightforward way to skip probate. When one owner dies, the survivor takes full ownership, and the title is cleared by recording a copy of the death certificate with the county register of deeds.

The simplicity hides real risks. Adding a joint tenant is an immediate, irrevocable transfer of a partial ownership interest. The new co-owner can sell or mortgage their share. Their creditors can place liens on it. If your adult child is added to the deed and later gets sued or divorced, your home is exposed. You also cannot undo the arrangement without the other owner’s agreement.

Married couples in South Carolina have a stronger version of this arrangement, tenancy by the entirety, which provides the same probate avoidance and adds creditor protection: neither spouse can sever the tenancy alone, and property held this way is generally shielded from the individual debts of one spouse.

How the Tax Basis Compares

The transfer method you pick affects how much tax your beneficiary owes when they eventually sell. This is where families most often lose money by choosing the simplest option without thinking through what happens later.

Property that passes at death generally receives a stepped-up tax basis equal to fair market value on the date of death.⁴ Say you bought your home for $80,000 and it’s worth $350,000 when you die. Your beneficiary’s basis becomes $350,000. If they sell it soon after for $360,000, they owe capital gains tax on $10,000.

Property transferred as a gift during your lifetime does not get that treatment. The recipient carries over your original basis. Using the same numbers, if you gift the home to your child while you’re alive, their basis stays at $80,000, and a sale at $360,000 produces capital gains on $280,000. Joint tenancy transfers work the same way for the share you gift, which means only the deceased owner’s share receives a step-up when they die. A revocable trust and a retained life estate both preserve the full step-up because the property is included in your estate.

Transfers above the annual gift tax exclusion, which is $19,000 per recipient for 2026, require you to file IRS Form 709.⁵ Real estate transfers almost always cross that threshold. Filing does not necessarily mean you owe tax; the gift counts against your lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. Not filing is a compliance problem that can surface years later.

Can You Change Your Mind Later?

The three options differ sharply on reversibility, and this is worth thinking through before you sign anything.

A revocable trust is the most flexible. State law lets you revoke or amend it at any time during your lifetime unless the document says otherwise.³ You can swap beneficiaries, pull the property out, or dissolve the trust entirely.

A traditional life estate deed is not something you can undo. Once the remainderman has a vested interest, changes require their cooperation. This is the single biggest reason many South Carolina estate planning attorneys steer clients toward trusts.

Joint tenancy sits in between. Either owner can sever the joint tenancy, but severing does not restore sole ownership. You would then own the property as tenants in common, and the other person’s share would go through their own probate at death.

Recording the Deed and What It Costs

Any deed transferring real property in South Carolina has to be recorded in the county where the property sits. An unrecorded deed is not effective against later purchasers or creditors without notice of the transfer.⁶ That rule applies to life estate deeds, to quitclaim deeds used to add a joint tenant, and to deeds transferring property into a trust.

South Carolina’s deed recording fee is $1.85 for each $500 of value.⁷ On a $250,000 home, that works out to roughly $925. Some transfers between family members or into revocable trusts may qualify for exemptions depending on the county, and the register of deeds may add a separate flat filing fee per document.

Debts, Medicaid, and Fraudulent Transfers

No transfer method wipes out existing debts on the property. Mortgages, tax liens, and judgment liens follow the home regardless of whether it moves through probate, a trust, a life estate, or joint tenancy. Your beneficiary takes the property subject to whatever is attached to it.

Creditors have a second tool beyond existing liens. South Carolina law voids any transfer made with the intent to delay, hinder, or defraud creditors.⁸ Courts look at whether the transferor kept possession after the transfer, whether the transfer was concealed, and whether it left the transferor insolvent. Moving a home into a trust or signing a life estate deed while you owe significant debts can be unwound in court, with the property pulled back to satisfy those debts.

Medicaid adds another layer. After a Medicaid recipient dies, the state can seek repayment from the estate for benefits it paid. Life estate deeds are sometimes used to keep the home out of that recovery, because the property passes to the remainderman outside the probate estate. If the life estate was created within five years before applying for Medicaid, though, the transfer triggers a penalty period of ineligibility. Timing is everything, and getting it wrong can leave someone unable to qualify for nursing home coverage when they need it.

What Could Change

Senate Bill 49 would authorize TOD designations on real property under a new Section 27-1-80, letting an owner name a beneficiary on the deed itself without setting up a trust or life estate.¹ House Bill 4264 would create a statutory framework for enhanced life estate deeds, which would let the grantor keep the power to sell, mortgage, or revoke the deed without the remainderman’s consent.² Both are sitting in committee, and neither has been scheduled for a vote. South Carolina has considered similar legislation in prior sessions without enacting it. Until one of these bills becomes law, a revocable living trust is the most reliable option for probate avoidance without the loss of control that comes with a traditional life estate or the exposure that comes with joint tenancy.

1
South Carolina Legislature. 2025-2026 Bill 49 – Transfer on Death Deed
2
South Carolina Legislature. 2025-2026 Bill 4264 – SC Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 62-7-602 – Revocation or Amendment of Revocable Trust
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
5
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 30-7-10 – Validity of Conveyances, Liens, and Other Transactions
7
South Carolina Department of Revenue. Deed Recording Fee
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-23-10 – Conveyances to Defraud Creditors