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 — Petition for Probate / Application for Letters

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 — Acceptance of Appointment / Oath of Personal Representative

After the court approves your petition, the nominated personal representative signs Form 302ES swearing to faithfully perform their duties. This is what activates the appointment. Until this form is signed and filed, you have no legal authority to act on behalf of the estate.

Once Form 302ES is filed and 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 Creditors (Forms 305ES)

Form 305ES — Notice to Interested Persons

Within 30 days of your appointment, you must notify all interested persons — heirs, devisees (people named in the will), and creditors whose claims you already know about. 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 you don't already know about are reached through a different mechanism — publication in a local newspaper of general circulation. South Carolina requires this creditor notice to run for a specified period. The 8-month creditor claim period runs from the date of your appointment (or 1 year from death, whichever comes first).

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

South Carolina Probate Accounting Form (Form 360ES or court-specific)

Depending on the county and the estate's complexity, the court may require periodic accountings showing what the personal representative has collected, spent, and distributed. For informal probate estates, a final accounting is typically required before the court will allow 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 is worth $45,000 or less and at least 30 days have passed since death, an heir or next of kin can file Form 420ES with the probate court (or present it directly to asset holders) to collect those assets without opening a full probate case.

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.

The filing fee for Form 420ES is capped at $72.50 for estates between $20,000 and $45,000.

Waiver Forms

South Carolina Probate Waiver Form

Interested persons (heirs, devisees) can waive certain procedural rights during probate — including the right to receive formal notice, the right to contest a will, or the right to require a formal accounting. Waivers are typically used to streamline probate when all parties are cooperating and comfortable with how the personal representative is handling things.

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 Department'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 →