South Carolina Estate & Inheritance Tax

What the South Carolina Estate Data Reveals

South Carolina imposes no state estate tax, so federal law under IRC § 2001 is the only estate-level levy that applies. With the federal exemption at $13,990,000 per decedent in 2025, the vast majority of South Carolina estates clear probate without owing estate tax at any level — though the scheduled 2026 sunset of the TCJA could cut that exemption roughly in half. There is no separate inheritance tax, so beneficiaries receive their share without a second state-level deduction at distribution.

IRS Statistics of Income data show 87 federal estate tax returns filed by South Carolina residents in the most recent available year (filing year 2023), reporting $1.99 billion in combined gross estate value. Net federal estate tax paid totaled $0.12 billion that year. Across the multi-year IRS SOI series above, South Carolina averages roughly 77 taxable filings per year, with an effective federal rate on reported gross estates of about 5.1%.

Probate itself typically runs 9–18 months in South Carolina (roughly 14 months on average), with court filing fees of $25–$500. Attorney compensation is set by statute at approximately 5% of the estate, which is a material fixed cost even for uncontested estates. South Carolina does offer a simplified small-estate track for estates under $25,000, which most families use to bypass full formal probate. Because South Carolina has adopted the Uniform Probate Code (since 1987), procedures are broadly standardized across counties. As a common-law (separate property) state, South Carolina treats each spouse's holdings individually unless jointly titled, so titling choices drive what actually enters the probate estate.