South Carolina Probate Inventory: The 90-Day Deadline and What to Include

Missing the 90-day inventory deadline is one of the most common mistakes personal representatives make in South Carolina probate — and one of the most avoidable. The inventory isn't complicated, but it has a firm deadline, specific form requirements, and consequences if you get it wrong. Here's what you need to know.

The 90-Day Deadline

Within 90 days of your appointment as personal representative, you must file a probate inventory with the county probate court. This deadline runs from the date your Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration were issued — not from the date of death, not from the date you learned you were named executor.

Missing the deadline doesn't automatically disqualify you as PR, but it creates problems: the court may inquire, interested parties may object, and it raises questions about how diligently you're managing the estate. In supervised administration cases, it can trigger court action. Don't miss it if you can help it.

Form 350ES: What It Requires

The South Carolina probate inventory is filed on Form 350ES (Inventory and Appraisement). This form requires you to list every probate asset in the estate and assign a fair market value as of the date of death.

The form organizes assets into categories:

• Real property — land and buildings titled in the decedent's name alone
• Personal property — bank accounts, investment accounts, vehicles, household goods, jewelry, collectibles, business interests
• Other assets — anything that doesn't fit neatly into the above

For each asset, you need a description specific enough to identify it (account number range, property address, vehicle VIN) and a value as of the date of death.

Values should be as accurate as you can make them. Bank accounts are easy — the balance on the date of death is the value. Real estate requires more thought: a county tax assessment is not sufficient; you need a fair market value, typically supported by a professional appraisal or a comparable sales analysis. Investment accounts use the date-of-death statement values.

What Counts as a Probate Asset — and What Doesn't

This is where many PRs make mistakes. The inventory covers only probate assets — assets that pass through the will or intestate succession because they don't have another mechanism to transfer.

Probate assets include:

• Real property titled solely in the decedent's name
• Bank and investment accounts without a beneficiary designation or payable-on-death (POD) designation
• Personal property (vehicles titled in the name alone, household goods, collectibles)
• Business interests that don't have transfer provisions

Non-probate assets do NOT go on the inventory:

• Life insurance with a named beneficiary
• Retirement accounts (IRA, 401k) with a named beneficiary
• Accounts with POD or TOD designations
• Jointly held property with right of survivorship (passes to the survivor automatically)
• Assets held in a revocable living trust (managed by the trustee, not the estate)

Including non-probate assets on the inventory isn't just unnecessary — it can confuse the accounting and create distribution problems later. But failing to inventory a genuine probate asset leaves an unexplained gap that creditors and heirs may later challenge.

If you're unsure whether an asset is a probate asset, pull the account statement or deed and look for beneficiary designations or joint ownership language. What you see on the document controls.

Getting Appraisals Right

Some assets are easy to value. Others require professional appraisal, and this takes time — which is one reason the 90-day window can feel tight.

For personal property with significant value — antiques, art, jewelry, collectibles, firearms collections — hire a certified appraiser. The appraiser's report should value items as of the date of death, not current market value.

For real estate, you have options: a licensed real estate appraiser, a broker price opinion (BPO), or in some counties, the probate court will accept a detailed comparable sales analysis. An informal estimate from a family friend who "knows real estate" is not adequate.

For business interests, you may need a business valuation professional, especially for interests in operating companies. This can take several weeks to arrange.

Start the appraisal process early — ideally in the first two weeks after appointment — so you have values in hand before the deadline.

Extensions: Form 352ES

If 90 days isn't enough time, South Carolina allows you to request an extension using Form 352ES (Application for Extension of Time to File Inventory). You must file this form before the 90-day deadline expires, not after.

The extension request explains why you need more time (pending appraisals, difficulty locating assets, etc.) and proposes a new deadline. Courts routinely grant reasonable extension requests, especially when appraisals are the bottleneck. Courts are less sympathetic to extension requests that come in after the deadline has already passed.

If you know you need more time, file the extension request early. There's no penalty for asking.

Final Accounting: Form 361ES

The inventory is not the same as the final accounting. The inventory is filed early in the process and establishes what assets the estate holds. The final accounting comes at the end and shows what happened to everything — what came in, what went out as debts and expenses, and what was distributed to heirs.

The final accounting is filed on Form 361ES (Final Account). It must reconcile with the inventory: every asset on the inventory should be accounted for in the final accounting (either distributed, sold, used to pay a debt, or explained). Discrepancies between inventory values and final proceeds need explanation (an asset sold for more or less than its appraised value, for instance).

The final accounting is part of the standard estate closing process. If you're using the waiver-based closing method (Forms 364ES and 412ES), all heirs sign off in lieu of a court-reviewed accounting. If you're doing standard closing (Form 361ES + 410ES + 416ES), the court reviews the accounting in detail.

The quality of your inventory directly affects the quality of your final accounting. The more carefully you document assets and values at the beginning, the smoother the closing will be at the end.

For a complete overview of the South Carolina probate timeline — from opening to closing, including current forms and thresholds — the South Carolina Probate Process Guide walks through every step.

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