South Carolina route screening
South Carolina publishes two DISTINCT small-estate procedures, both capped at forty-five thousand dollars but reached by different mechanisms.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
(1) Collection of personal property by affidavit (S.C. Code § 62-3-1201): a self-help route with NO personal representative appointed. Thirty days after death, a claiming successor presents an affidavit — countersigned by the probate judge — stating that the value of the entire probate estate (property passing by will plus by intestacy), wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars, that 30 days have elapsed, and that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted. (2) Summary administrative procedure (S.C. Code § 62-3-1203): used AFTER a personal representative is appointed. If the inventory and appraisal show the value of the entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars and exempt property, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, the personal representative — after publishing notice to creditors under § 62-3-801 but without additional notice — may immediately disburse and distribute the estate and close it by sworn statement under § 62-3-1204. The affidavit route needs no appointment; the summary procedure runs inside an opened estate. The threshold reported here is net of liens and encumbrances.
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.
Controlling citation: S.C. Code § 62-3-1201 — 2025 Act No. 26 (H.3472), SECTION 1, eff May 8, 2025.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
state that the value of the entire probate estate (the decedent's property passing under the decedent's will plus the decedent's property passing by intestacy), wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars
| Procedure | Collection of personal property by affidavit (S.C. Code § 62-3-1201); small-estate summary administrative procedure (S.C. Code § 62-3-1203) |
|---|---|
| What counts | The probate estate within the statute’s scope, so solely owned real property can count |
| Value basis | Value less enforceable liens and encumbrances |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
The South Carolina caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the South Carolina overview.
What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.
Reviewed source note: state that the value of the entire probate estate (the decedent's property passing under the decedent's will plus the decedent's property passing by intestacy), wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed forty-five thousand dollars
What this means: Threshold $45,000 measured on the entire probate estate less liens and encumbrances (net-of-liens). 2025 Act No. 26 confirms current text — no stale session-law trap.
South Carolina record: 5/5 verified, 20 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction