South Carolina Probate Court Forms: The Complete List

If you've ever tried to navigate probate court paperwork without a guide, you know the feeling: a stack of numbered forms with cryptic names, no obvious order, and no explanation of what each one actually does. South Carolina's probate forms use an "ES" numbering system (standing for Estate), and once you understand the logic, the sequence becomes much clearer.

This guide covers every major form in the SC probate process, in roughly the order you'll need them.

Opening the Estate (Forms 300ES and 302ES)

Form 300ES — Application for Informal Probate and/or Appointment

This is the form that starts everything. When you file Form 300ES with the county probate court, you're asking the court to formally open the estate and appoint a personal representative (the term South Carolina uses instead of "executor" or "administrator").

Form 300ES captures:

• Decedent's identifying information (name, date of death, last domicile)
• Whether a will exists and is being submitted
• Who is being nominated as personal representative
• An estimate of the gross estate value

You submit Form 300ES along with the original will (if any) and a certified copy of the death certificate. The court uses this to open the file and assess the filing fee, which scales with estate value.

Form 302ES — Renunciation of Right to Administration / Nomination

Form 302ES is used by a person with a right to serve who renounces that right or nominates someone else. After the application and any required renunciations are processed, the court issues Fiduciary Letters to the appointed personal representative.

Once the court issues Fiduciary Letters (sometimes called a Certificate of Appointment), you can legally open estate bank accounts, notify creditors, and begin collecting assets.

Notifying Heirs and Devisees (Form 305ES)

Form 305ES — Information to Heirs and Devisees

Within 30 days of your appointment, you must notify the heirs and devisees (people named in the will). Form 305ES is the standardized notice.

You'll send a copy to each interested person and file proof of service with the court. This 30-day clock starts from the date the Fiduciary Letters are issued, not from the date of death.

Creditors are reached through a different mechanism — publication in a local newspaper of general circulation. South Carolina requires this creditor notice to run once a week for three consecutive weeks. The creditor claim period runs for eight months from the date of first publication, subject to the one-year-from-death limit.

Inventorying the Estate (Form 350ES)

Form 350ES — Inventory and Appraisement

Within 90 days of appointment, the personal representative must file a complete inventory of the estate's assets. Form 350ES is that inventory.

The form requires you to list all probate assets with their fair market values as of the date of death. Categories typically include:

• Real property (address, legal description, estimated value)
• Bank and investment accounts
• Personal property (vehicles, valuable items)
• Business interests
• Any other assets in the decedent's name alone

If you need professional appraisals — often necessary for real estate, antiques, or business interests — you should arrange those within the first few weeks to meet the 90-day deadline.

A common mistake is undervaluing assets or omitting accounts the personal representative didn't know about. Check for financial mail, review recent tax returns for interest/dividend income (which reveals account existence), and contact Social Security to confirm no unreported income streams.

Accounting Forms

Form 361ES — Accounting (Final)

Form 361ES is the final accounting showing what the personal representative has collected, spent, and distributed. County procedures may also require additional local checklists or supporting records before closing.

The accounting form captures:

• Beginning estate value (from the inventory)
• All receipts (income earned, assets liquidated)
• All disbursements (debts paid, expenses, distributions)
• Remaining balance to be distributed

Some counties have their own accounting forms or checklists in addition to the statewide form. Call the clerk's office early to ask what they require for closing — this varies enough that you don't want to assume.

Distributing Assets (Form 400ES)

Form 400ES — Deed of Distribution

When real property needs to be transferred out of the estate, the personal representative signs a Deed of Distribution (Form 400ES) conveying the property to the heirs or beneficiaries. This deed gets recorded at the county Register of Deeds — not with the probate court.

The recording fee is $15. Deeds of Distribution are exempt from South Carolina's deed transfer tax (the tax that normally applies to real estate sales), but the transfer may trigger an Assessable Transfer of Interest for property tax purposes, potentially changing the property's assessment.

See the South Carolina Deed of Distribution post for full details on this step.

Small Estate Alternative (Form 420ES)

Form 420ES — Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property

This form is not part of the full probate process — it's the alternative to full probate when the estate is small enough. As of May 2025 (Act No. 26), South Carolina's small estate threshold is $45,000 in personal property.

If the estate's probate personal property, after valid liens and encumbrances, is worth $45,000 or less, no formal probate proceeding is pending in any jurisdiction, and at least 30 days have passed since death, an heir or next of kin can file Form 420ES with the probate court to collect those assets without opening a full probate case. After the judge countersigns it, present the affidavit to the relevant asset holders.

Form 420ES does not apply to real property. If the decedent owned a house or land in their name alone, you need full probate regardless of the estate's total value.

For an estate between $20,000 and $45,000, the applicable filing fee is $67.50.

Waiver Forms

Form 364ES — Waiver of Statutory Filing Requirements

Interested persons can use Form 364ES to waive statutory filing requirements. For example, the form can be filed with Form 412ES to waive a comprehensive final accounting when the beneficiaries are cooperating.

Waiver forms look different depending on what is being waived. Your county probate court or a probate attorney can provide the appropriate waiver form for your situation.

The Closing Package

To formally close an estate in South Carolina informal probate, the personal representative typically files:

1. A final accounting (showing all receipts and disbursements)
2. Proof that all debts and taxes have been paid
3. Documentation of distributions made to heirs
4. A petition or statement to close the estate

Some counties require explicit court approval of the closing; others simply accept the filing and close the file administratively. Ask the clerk what their process is — this is another area where local variation matters.

Where to Get the Forms

All SC probate forms are available through:

• The South Carolina Judicial Branch's website (judicial.sc.gov)
• Your county probate court clerk's office (in person or by phone)
• Some counties post their own versions or supplements on their county websites

Don't download forms from third-party legal document sites — some carry outdated form numbers or stale instructions. Use the official sources.

The South Carolina Probate Process Guide includes a complete filing checklist organized by deadline, so you can track which form is due when and avoid the costly mistake of missing the 90-day inventory window.

See more South Carolina guides →