South Carolina Small Estate Affidavit: Form 420ES and $45,000 Cap

The South Carolina small estate affidavit lets a family member or other successor collect a deceased person’s personal property without opening full probate, provided the probate estate is worth $45,000 or less after subtracting liens and debts. That cap rose from $25,000 in May 2025, which pulled many more estates into the simplified process. You file the affidavit with the probate court in the county where the deceased lived; once the judge signs it, banks, employers, and other holders must turn over the property.

Who Can File and When

South Carolina Code Section 62-3-1201 sets three conditions, and all three have to be met. The probate estate (personal property passing by will or intestacy, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances) cannot exceed $45,000. At least 30 days must have passed since the date of death. And no one can have applied for or been appointed as personal representative in any jurisdiction.¹ If any of those fails, formal probate is the route.

The filer has to be a “successor,” meaning someone entitled to inherit under a will or under South Carolina’s intestacy laws. The 2025 amendment also explicitly added anyone who paid reasonable funeral expenses, so a friend or extended relative who covered burial costs can file to recover that money even without being an heir.² When several heirs exist, they need to agree on a single filer or submit a joint affidavit.

One boundary matters more than any other. The affidavit only reaches personal property. Real estate cannot be transferred this way at any value, so if the deceased owned a house or land, that piece needs a different legal process.

What Counts Toward the $45,000 Cap

Only probate assets count against the limit. Those are the items that would pass under the will or through intestacy: bank accounts in the deceased’s sole name, vehicles titled solely to them, personal belongings, and similar property. The statute counts value “wherever located,” so an out-of-state account in the deceased’s name still counts.¹

Assets that pass outside probate to a named beneficiary or co-owner do not count:

Joint accounts and joint tenancy property, which go automatically to the surviving owner.
Life insurance and retirement accounts, which pay the named beneficiary directly.
Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, which transfer to the designated person.
Assets held in a trust, which belong to the trust rather than the individual’s estate.

The distinction changes outcomes. Someone with a $200,000 life insurance policy and a $30,000 solo bank account has a $30,000 probate estate, and the affidavit is available.

Documents and Form 420ES

You need a certified copy of the death certificate. South Carolina Vital Records are now handled by the Department of Public Health. The standard search fee is $12 and includes one certified copy; each additional copy is $3. Expedited service costs $17 with roughly a 10-business-day turnaround, while standard processing takes about four weeks.³ Funeral homes often help order copies.

You also need an itemized valuation of every probate asset. Bank balances come from statements. Vehicle values can be pulled from the SCDMV, Kelley Blue Book, or NADA guides. Jewelry, collectibles, or unusual items may need a professional appraisal, which generally runs $50 to $250. Subtract any liens: a $15,000 car with a $10,000 loan counts as $5,000 toward the cap.

The affidavit itself is Form 420ES, “Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property Pursuant to Small Estate Proceeding.” File it with the probate court in the county where the deceased lived, or if they lived out of state, in the county where the South Carolina property is located.¹ The form calls for the deceased’s name, date of death, a list of assets, and the heirs or beneficiaries. It has to be notarized; you sign it under oath in front of a South Carolina notary public.⁴

Filing With the Probate Court

Unlike states where the affidavit goes straight to whoever holds the property, South Carolina requires the probate judge to review, approve, and countersign it before it has any legal force.¹ The judge has to be satisfied that you are actually entitled to the property.

Filing fees are set by statute and scale with the gross estate value:⁵

Under $5,000: $25.00
$5,000 to $19,999: $45.00
$20,000 to $45,000: $67.50

Estates valued under $100 pay half the normal fee. Individual counties may have their own administrative requirements, so a call to the clerk before you visit is worth the five minutes. Processing usually runs a few weeks.

Collecting the Property

Once the judge countersigns, you present the affidavit to whoever is holding the deceased person’s assets. South Carolina law is direct: any institution that receives a valid, court-approved affidavit and has no written notice that it has been revoked must deliver the property.⁶ The holder is fully discharged from liability once it hands over the assets and has no duty to verify your statements or track how you use the money. If a holder refuses, Section 62-3-1202 lets you go back to court to compel delivery. Most banks comply once they see the judge’s signature.

Vehicles

Transferring a vehicle title takes an extra step at the SCDMV. Complete Form 400 and check the box indicating the transfer is to a legal heir or beneficiary. The court-approved affidavit satisfies the DMV’s requirement for supporting probate documents.⁷ Bring the original title if you have it, the affidavit, and your ID.

Paying Debts Before You Distribute

The filer is responsible for paying the deceased’s legitimate debts before any assets go to heirs. Distribute too soon and you can be personally liable; creditors are entitled to claw back what was handed out prematurely.

Creditors have one year from the date of death to file a claim. Publishing notice in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks shortens that window to eight months from the first publication. Direct written notice to a known creditor shortens their deadline to 60 days from receipt, or one year from death, whichever comes first.⁸ Publishing is not required for small estates but is worth considering when unknown creditors may exist.

If the estate can’t cover every debt, South Carolina imposes a strict payment order:⁹

Administrative costs and reasonable funeral expenses
Debts and taxes with federal priority
Medical, hospital, and personal care expenses from the last illness
Debts and taxes with state priority, including Medicaid recovery
All remaining claims

Medicaid Estate Recovery

If the deceased received Medicaid, the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services can file a claim to recover what Medicaid paid for that care. The program applies to all estate types, and using a small estate affidavit does not exempt you.¹⁰ The Medicaid claim has to be satisfied before assets go to heirs. If you know or suspect the deceased received Medicaid, contact SCDHHS early so you know what will be owed.

Distributing to Heirs

If there is a valid will, assets go to the people named in it. Without a will, South Carolina’s intestacy rules apply. A surviving spouse with no competing children or other descendants inherits the entire estate. If the deceased also left children, the spouse takes half and the children divide the other half equally.¹¹ With no surviving spouse, children take everything. If neither exists, the estate passes to parents, then siblings, then further up the family tree.

You, as the filer, are personally accountable for getting the distribution right. Written acknowledgments from each heir when they receive their share are not legally required, but they head off later disputes.

If an Heir Is a Minor

You can’t hand cash or property to someone under 18. South Carolina’s Uniform Transfers to Minors Act lets you transfer up to $15,000 to a custodian who manages the money for the minor, as long as no custodian was previously nominated or all nominated custodians are unavailable.¹² If a minor’s share exceeds $15,000, the probate court may need to appoint a conservator until the child reaches adulthood.

Taxes

South Carolina has no state estate tax, no inheritance tax, and no gift tax. The federal estate tax applies only to estates over $15,000,000 in 2026, so it will not touch a small estate.¹³

What may still be due is a final federal income tax return (Form 1040) covering income the deceased earned from January 1 of the year of death through the date of death. A return is required if that income met the ordinary filing threshold, and filing anyway is sensible if a refund is owed. The return is due by April 15 of the year after death. A final South Carolina state income tax return covers the same period.

When to Bring in an Attorney

The small estate affidavit is meant to be handled without a lawyer, and most families manage on their own. Some situations still justify the cost of an hour of professional help: heirs who disagree, an estate with business interests or intellectual property, a Medicaid recovery claim that could swallow the estate, or genuine uncertainty about whether an asset is probate or non-probate. The costly mistakes here are quiet ones. Miscounting so the estate exceeds the $45,000 cap. Distributing before debts are settled. Missing a Medicaid lien. Any of those costs far more to unwind than the meeting would have cost to prevent.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 62 – South Carolina Probate Code
2
South Carolina Legislature. 2025-2026 Bill 3472 – Small Estates
3
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Fees – Vital Records (Birth, Death, etc)
4
South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office. Notary Public Online Manual 2023
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 8 Chapter 21
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 62 – South Carolina Probate Code – Section 62-3-1202
7
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Completing a Title and/or Registration Application Instructions Form 400
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Section 62-3-801 – Notice to Creditors
9
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 62 – South Carolina Probate Code – Section 62-3-805
10
SCDHHS. Estate Recovery
11
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 62 Chapter 2 – Intestate Succession and Wills – Section 62-2-102
12
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 63 Chapter 5 – South Carolina Children’s Code
13
Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax