Wills and estate planning in South Carolina

Researched 2026-10-20 · confidence: high · 2026 figures

In plain words: in South Carolina a will is valid when it's signed in front of 2 adult witnesses. There is no state estate tax. The federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 a person in 2026.

Witnesses to a will	2 (a third is a common precaution here)
Handwritten (holographic) will	Not recognised
Self-proving affidavit	Available
Electronic wills	Not allowed
Power of attorney	Notary + 2 witnesses · Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Health care directive	2 witnesses
State estate tax	No
State inheritance tax	No
Community property	No
Age of majority / UTMA age	18 / 21

Signing a will

Statute: S.C. Code § 62-2-502.

The will is valid. A gift to an interested witness stands if there are two other disinterested witnesses; otherwise it is void to the extent it exceeds what the witness would take in intestacy (S.C. Code § 62-2-504).

Self-proof needs the testator's acknowledgment plus an affidavit of at least one witness before an officer, in the statutory form language (§ 62-2-503). The fetched Title 62 text showed no holographic or electronic will provision. Section 62-2-512 permits a separate signed list of tangible personal property.

Power of attorney

Statute: South Carolina Uniform Power of Attorney Act, S.C. Code §§ 62-8-101 et seq. (effective Jan. 1, 2017).

The POA must be signed, attested with the same formality and witness requirements as a will (two witnesses), and acknowledged or proved under § 30-5-30 (notary) (§ 62-8-105). A DURABLE POA MUST BE RECORDED (register of deeds or clerk of court, like a deed) before the agent may act after the principal's incapacity (§ 62-8-109(c)). Hot powers need express grant (§ 62-8-201(a)): trusts, gifts, survivorship, beneficiary designations, delegation, disclaimers, and commodity futures. South Carolina omitted the UPOAA Article 3 statutory form; the only form in the fetched text is the agent's certification (§ 62-8-119(f)).

Health care directive

Called: Health Care Power of Attorney; living will is 'Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death'.

Statute: Health care power of attorney, S.C. Code §§ 62-5-503, 62-5-504; living will under the Death With Dignity Act, S.C. Code §§ 44-77-10 to -160 (execution § 44-77-40, form § 44-77-50).

Health care POA (§ 62-5-504 form): a witness may not be the principal's spouse, lineal ancestor or descendant, sibling or sibling's descendant, or the spouse of any of these. Also barred: anyone financially responsible for the principal's care, anyone named in the will or entitled to inherit, life insurance beneficiaries, the agent or successor agent, the principal's physician or the physician's employee, and anyone with a claim against the estate. No more than one witness may be an employee of a health facility where the principal is a patient. The living will (§ 44-77-40) has similar bars, and if the declarant is a hospital or nursing-care patient, one witness must be a State Ombudsman designee.

Health care POA: two witnesses required, and the notary block is optional (§ 62-5-504). Documents signed on or after Jan. 1, 2007 must be 'substantially' in the statutory form. Living will: signed before an officer authorized to administer oaths, with two witnesses who subscribe an affidavit sworn by at least one of them, so it is effectively notarized (§ 44-77-40). It too must be 'substantially' in the § 44-77-50 form. The field values describe the health care POA. Official form URL not found.

If there's no will: what a spouse gets

If the decedent leaves surviving issue, the spouse takes one-half of the intestate estate, even when all the children are the spouse's (S.C. Code § 62-2-102).

A spouse's right to a share

One-third of the decedent's probate estate, computed under § 62-2-202 (S.C. Code § 62-2-201).

Estate and inheritance tax

No state estate tax.

No inheritance tax.

Probate

Probate is UPC-based but supervised by the county Probate Judge, so it is moderate. Collection by affidavit and summary administration both apply when the probate estate, less liens, is $45,000 or less (S.C. Code §§ 62-3-1201, 62-3-1203; raised from $25,000 by a 2025 amendment whose effective date was not confirmed).

Money God drafts a South Carolina will, power of attorney and health care directive from a short interview, then you send it to your attorney for review before signing.

Try Money God free

Sources

Researched from state statutes and official forms. Laws change; this page is information, not legal advice. Every Money God draft is reviewed by a licensed attorney in your state before you sign it.