At a glance
| State estate tax | No |
|---|---|
| Estate top rate | — |
| Inheritance tax | No |
| Small-estate ceiling | $45,000S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-1201 (Act No. 26, 2025) · eff. May 8, 2025 |
| TOD deed for real estate | Not availableS.C. — no real-property TOD deed (§ 62-6-401 covers titled personal property only) · not enacted as of 2026 |
| Community-property state | No |
Estate tax
South Carolina does not levy its own estate tax. An estate here is subject only to the federal estate tax, which most estates never owe — the federal exclusion is measured in the millions. See the federal lifetime exemption for how that works.
Inheritance tax
South Carolina has no inheritance tax — beneficiaries are not taxed on what they receive by the state. South Carolina imposes no inheritance tax; heirs owe no state-level death tax.
Probate basics
Estates at or below the $45,000 personal-property threshold may be collected by small-estate affidavit under § 62-3-1201; the affidavit must be approved and countersigned by the probate judge (it is not self-executing). The $25,000 ceiling was raised to $45,000 in 2025.
South Carolina is a common-law (separate-property) state for ownership between spouses. A transfer-on-death deed for real estate is Not available S.C. — no real-property TOD deed (§ 62-6-401 covers titled personal property only) · not enacted as of 2026. The probate deadlines for this state — filing the will, the creditor-claim window, the inventory — are cited in the Executor & Heir’s Guide.
State-specific quirks
No transfer-on-death deed for real estate
South Carolina authorizes TOD designations only for titled personal property such as vehicles and watercraft (§ 62-6-401). A real-property TOD deed bill (S.49) was introduced in 2025 but remains in committee — a house or land cannot be retitled by TOD deed.
The small-estate ceiling rose to $45,000 in 2025
The long-standing $25,000 affidavit ceiling was increased to $45,000 by Act No. 26, effective May 8, 2025. The affidavit still must be approved and countersigned by the probate judge before use.
An inoperative estate-tax chapter is still on the books
Title 12, Chapter 16 is titled "Estate Tax" and its charging language remains, which can mislead a keyword search — but no South Carolina estate tax has been due since the federal credit's repeal.
Where to read next
- the federal lifetime exemption — how the far larger federal exclusion works — and why a state tax can still apply below it
- funding a revocable trust — the most common way to keep property out of probate entirely
- the ILIT cluster — keeping a life-insurance death benefit out of a taxable estate
- the Executor & Heir's Guide — the probate deadlines for this state, cited to the statute
- ← Back to the 51-jurisdiction comparison
Sources & methodology
Methodology & sources
Every tax figure on this page links to the primary source it was verified against — a South Carolina statute or department-of-revenue page — with that source’s own effective date. Aggregator round-ups are never used as a source. State death and probate law changes every legislative session; this page carries the date it was last re-verified, and any figure that could not be confirmed from a primary source is flagged for you to check with the state rather than guessed. See our editorial standards.
This page is educational and is not legal or tax advice. Whether a death tax applies turns on residency, where property sits, and how title is held — details a general page cannot resolve. Confirm your own situation with a professional licensed in South Carolina.
Last verified July 20, 2026.