South Carolina
Death Laws & End-of-Life Guide

At a Glance

Filing Requirements

Death certificates must be filed electronically with the Bureau of Vital Statistics within five days after a burial removal transit permit is issued or the funeral director takes in-person custody of the body, whichever is later. If the five days end on a weekend or a federal or state holiday, the deadline moves to the end of the next business day. The funeral director who first assumes custody of the body files it and collects the personal data and the medical certification. If the funeral director can't collect the decedent's personal data after a good-faith effort, they have to tell the bureau right away why. The physician in charge of the patient's care has 48 hours after being notified of the death to complete the cause-of-death certification. If the cause can't be determined in that window, it's entered as pending and a supplemental report follows. (S.C. Code § 44-63-74, as amended by 2026 Act No. 128)

• -S.C. Code § 44-63-74 sets the five-day electronic filing rule and the physician's 48-hour deadline.
• -Administrative penalties run $250 for a first violation or a warning letter, $500 for a second, and $1,000 for a third, and each additional day counts as another violation.

Source: 2026 Act No. 128 (S. 894), South Carolina Legislature ↗

Who Can Obtain a Copy

For 50 years after the date of death, copies go only to members of the deceased's family or their legal representatives, plus anyone who shows a direct and tangible interest because a personal or property right depends on it. Everyone else can get a statement that the death occurred, with the date and county.

• -S.C. Code § 44-63-84 specifies who can obtain copies.
• -After 50 years the records become public and any person may obtain copies.
• -The state charges a $12 standard search fee or a $17 expedited search fee, either of which includes one certified copy, plus $3 for each additional copy.

Who can order a death certificate in South Carolina?

Immediate family members of the person who died, or the legal representative of an immediate family member, can get a certified copy. Anyone else gets a statement that the death occurred, with the date and county. After 50 years the record is public (S.C. Code 44-63-84). Certified copies come from South Carolina's State Vital Records Office, South Carolina Department of Public Health, in Columbia; regional vital records offices issue death certificates from any county, online or by phone through the approved vendors Go Certificates and VitalChek, in person at a state or regional office, by mail to the state office, or by drop-off.

How do I get a death certificate in South Carolina?

Order certified copies from South Carolina's vital records office; this section's source link is the official process. The funeral home or cremation provider usually orders the first copies for you. Ask each bank, insurer, court, and agency whether it needs its own certified copy before you decide how many to order.

How much does a death certificate cost in South Carolina?

$12 per certified copy in South Carolina, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.

At a Glance

Initiating Probate

Probate is the legal process of proving a will and settling the estate of a deceased person. In South Carolina, the person in custody of the original will must deliver it to the probate court in the county where the deceased resided within 30 days of death.

• -The process involves filing the will and a petition with the probate court.
• -Informal probate admits the will as valid, while formal probate may require a hearing.

Small Estates

If the entire probate estate, minus liens, is worth $45,000 or less, a successor can collect the deceased's personal property with an affidavit instead of full probate. (S.C. Code § 62-3-1201) The limit was $25,000 until Act 26 of 2025 raised it to $45,000, effective May 8, 2025.

• -You must wait 30 days after the death, and no petition for a personal representative can be pending or granted anywhere.
• -The affidavit covers personal property only, not real estate, and must be filed with the probate court.
• -Estates under the same $45,000 limit, plus exempt property, funeral costs, administration expenses, and last-illness medical bills, can use summary administration instead: the personal representative publishes notice to creditors, then distributes the estate and files a closing statement. (S.C. Code § 62-3-1203)

Intestacy (Dying Without a Will)

If a person dies in South Carolina without a valid will, their estate is distributed according to the state's intestacy laws. The probate court will oversee the distribution of assets to legal heirs.

• -Typically, assets pass to the surviving spouse, children, or other close relatives.
• -The process still involves validating debts and collecting assets.

Handwritten wills.

South Carolina doesn't accept an unwitnessed handwritten will signed here. Every will needs the signatures of at least two witnesses (S.C. Code § 62-2-502). A handwritten list of personal belongings can still count if a valid will refers to it, but it isn't a will on its own (§ 62-2-512). A will valid where it was signed, or where the person lived when they signed it or died, is valid here (§ 62-2-505).

Source: S.C. Code Title 62, Chapter 2 (South Carolina Legislature) ↗

What is the small-estate limit in South Carolina?

$45,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.

Do I need a probate attorney in South Carolina?

Not always. If the estate qualifies for the simplified process covered above, many people handle it without a lawyer. Hire one for full probate, a contested will, or property in more than one state. Before you hire anyone, know the fee structures: hourly, flat, and (in a few states) statutory percentages. Our probate attorney cost guide covers what each should run you.

Does South Carolina allow transfer-on-death deeds?

No. South Carolina has no transfer-on-death deed statute. A living trust or joint ownership with survivorship does the same job here; TOD-deed and Lady Bird-deed bills exist but neither has passed.

Source: legislative record ↗

Time off work after a death in South Carolina

South Carolina doesn't require a private employer to give bereavement leave, paid or unpaid. Whatever you get is your employer's policy, and it can be changed or refused.

Who it covers. Not applicable to private employers. S.C. Code Ann. § 8-11-177 sits in Title 8 (Public Officers and Employees) and covers state government employees only.

How much. 0 required of private employers. State employees get up to three consecutive workdays.

Paid or unpaid. n/a for private employers. The state-employee entitlement is paid leave.

South Carolina legislated bereavement leave once and applied it only to itself as an employer. S.C. Code Ann. § 8-11-177, titled "Funeral leave," gives state employees up to three consecutive workdays of paid leave on the death of an immediate family member, and it defines immediate family unusually broadly: "the spouse, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, legal guardians, brothers, spouse of brothers, sisters, spouse of sisters, children, spouse of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren of either the employee or the spouse." Subsection (B) lets the employing agency require a statement naming the deceased and the relationship. The section was added by 2004 Act No. 295, effective August 16, 2004. Private-sector employees in South Carolina get nothing by statute. No pregnancy-loss provision.

Source: S.C. Code Ann. § 8-11-177 (funeral leave, state employees only); S.C. Code Ann. tit. 41 (Labor and Employment), chapter index ↗

Can I leave money to care for my pet in South Carolina?

Yes. South Carolina enforces pet trusts under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-7-408, so money you set aside for an animal is legally binding on whoever you put in charge of it. The trust ends when the last animal it covers dies, and there's no year limit. Whoever you name in the trust enforces it, and if you name nobody a court appoints someone. Anyone concerned about the animal's welfare can ask the court to appoint an enforcer or to remove one, and that enforcer gets the rights of a qualified beneficiary, so they can demand information from the trustee. A judge can cut the amount back if it's worth more than the animal needs, and unless your trust says otherwise the surplus goes to you if you're living, otherwise to your heirs. South Carolina covers animals that were alive or in gestation while you were living, whether or not they'd been born when you wrote the trust, so an unborn litter counts. Name the caretaker and a backup in the trust itself, because the statute won't pick one for you.

Source: S.C. Code Ann. § 62-7-408 ↗

How to set one up, and what it costs →

Die without a will in South Carolina and this law picks your heirs.

If you die intestate (without a valid will) in South Carolina, S.C. Code §§ 62-2-101 to 62-2-109 decides who inherits everything a will would have covered. The shares depend on exactly who survives you: spouse, children, parents, siblings. What you told people you wanted doesn't matter. Only a signed will changes these defaults.

What your spouse gets.

What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:

• -Spouse only (no descendants or parents): the entire estate.
• -Spouse + parents (no descendants): still the entire estate, parents take nothing when a spouse survives.
• -Spouse + joint descendants: one-half to the spouse, one-half to the children.
• -Spouse + blended family: the same one-half, South Carolina ignores whose children they are.
• -Source: S.C. Code §§ 62-2-101 to 62-2-109

Children's shares.

The children take everything in equal shares if they're all in the same generation; more remote descendants take a dead child's share by representation.

No spouse, no children: the line of succession.

After issue come parents equally, then issue of parents, then grandparents or their issue in paternal and maternal halves, then great-grandparents or their issue the same way, and with no takers the estate passes to the State of South Carolina.

At a Glance

Two documents, two rules. The health care power of attorney needs two witnesses and no notary (S.C. Code § 62-5-503). The living will needs two witnesses plus an officer authorized to administer oaths, usually a notary, who may double as one witness (S.C. Code § 44-77-40).

Types of Advance Directives

South Carolina law recognizes two advance directives. The Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death, the state's living will, comes from the Death With Dignity Act, S.C. Code § 44-77-10 et seq. The Health Care Power of Attorney comes from the South Carolina Statutory Health Care Power of Attorney Act, S.C. Code §§ 62-5-500 to 62-5-518, formerly § 62-5-504 before the 2017 recodification.

• -A living will states which life-sustaining procedures you want withheld or withdrawn if you're terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The statutory form is at S.C. Code § 44-77-50.
• -A health care power of attorney names an agent to make medical decisions for you when you can't. The statutory form is at S.C. Code § 62-5-504.

Requirements for Validity

You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind to sign either document. The two documents have different signing rules, and the living will's are stricter.

• -Living will: you must date and sign it in the presence of two witnesses and an officer authorized to administer oaths, such as a notary public. The officer can double as one of the two witnesses. Notarization is required, not optional. (S.C. Code § 44-77-40)
• -Health care power of attorney: you must date and sign it, and two qualified witnesses must sign. No notary is required. (S.C. Code § 62-5-503)
• -Witnesses can't be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, can't inherit from you, can't be a beneficiary of your life insurance, can't be directly financially responsible for your medical care, and can't be your attending physician or that physician's employee. Your named agent can't witness your health care power of attorney. No more than one witness may be an employee of a health care facility where you're a patient.
• -Your health care agent has to be 18 or older and of sound mind, and can't be a health care provider you have a provider-patient relationship with when you sign, an employee of that provider, an employee of a nursing care facility where you live, or the spouse of any of them, unless that person is a relative of yours. (S.C. Code § 62-5-503(a)(4))
• -If you sign a living will while a patient in a hospital or a resident in a nursing care facility, an ombudsman designated by the State Ombudsman must serve as one of your two witnesses. (S.C. Code § 44-77-40(3))

Where do I get South Carolina's advance directive form?

Start with S.C. Code § 44-77-10 et seq. (Death With Dignity Act); §§ 62-5-500 to 62-5-518 (Health Care Power of Attorney), linked as this section's source. Use the current form or sample that the official source provides or identifies. Form authority and execution requirements vary by state, so confirm the source before signing and get legal help if your situation or the instructions are unclear.

Does South Carolina require a notary or witnesses for an advance directive?

South Carolina requires 2 adult witnesses; notarization isn’t required. Two documents, two rules. The health care power of attorney needs two witnesses and no notary (S.C. Code § 62-5-503). The living will needs two witnesses plus an officer authorized to administer oaths, usually a notary, who may double as one witness (S.C. Code § 44-77-40). Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.

At a Glance

Cremation Regulations

Human remains may not be cremated until 24 hours have passed from the time of death shown on the physician's, medical examiner's, or coroner's certificate of death, or on an abstract from the filed death certificate. There's one exception: if the decedent had an infectious or dangerous disease and the attending physician, medical examiner, or county coroner waives the wait in writing, the cremation can happen sooner. (S.C. Code § 32-8-340(A))

• -A cremation authorization form must be signed by the legal next of kin or an authorized agent.
• -A crematory can't cremate remains it knows contain a pacemaker or another implant that could be hazardous, and it can't refuse remains because they weren't embalmed. (S.C. Code § 32-8-340(B), (C))
• -If the crematory can't cremate right away, it has to place the remains in a holding facility with restricted access. (S.C. Code § 32-8-340(D))

Burial on Private Property

It's legal in South Carolina to bury human remains on private property, provided certain conditions are met. There are no state laws prohibiting home burial.

• -The state's ten-inch depth rule for burial vaults, caskets, and grave liners is in the Perpetual Care Cemetery Act (S.C. Code § 40-8-130(B)) and governs cemeteries regulated under that chapter, not burials on private family land.
• -The property owner should record the burial site with the county Register of Deeds to ensure future recognition.

Disposal of Cremated Remains

South Carolina law doesn't have specific regulations controlling where you may keep or scatter ashes. This allows for considerable flexibility in the final disposition of cremated remains.

• -Ashes may be stored in a crypt, niche, grave, or urn at home.
• -Scattering ashes on private land with permission, or over public lands/waterways (with common sense and respect) is generally permitted.

Who decides what happens to the body in South Carolina

South Carolina sets this order by statute. The first person on the list who is available and willing decides, and a funeral home takes its instructions from them.

1. designated agent named by the decedent in a will or other verified and attested document; or, where there is no known designation, the person named on the decedent's DD Form 93 if the decedent died while serving in any branch of the United States Armed Services as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 1481 (class covered by the any-one-unless-objection rule in (B))
2. spouse of the decedent, unless separated by a pendente lite order in a divorce or separate maintenance action, a formally signed written property or marital settlement agreement, or a permanent order of separate maintenance and support or approving such an agreement
3. surviving adult children (any one member may authorize unless that member knows of an objection by another member of the class, in which case only a majority of the members reasonably available may authorize)
4. surviving parents (same any-one-unless-objection rule)
5. adult siblings (same rule)
6. adult grandchildren (same rule)
7. grandparents (same rule)
8. person appointed by the probate court as the guardian
9. any other person authorized or under obligation by law to dispose of the body (same any-one-unless-objection rule)
10. (only if no one above serves, § 32-8-320(D)(1)) a person serving as executor or legal representative of the decedent's estate
11. (only if no one above serves, § 32-8-320(D)(2)) a public administrator, medical examiner, coroner, state appointed guardian, or other public official charged with arranging final disposition where the decedent is indigent or final disposition is the responsibility of the State or an instrumentality of the State
12. (only if no one above serves, § 32-8-320(D)(3)) the adult who exhibited special care and concern for the decedent

Naming someone in advance. Yes, but South Carolina names no dedicated form. § 32-8-320(A)(1) recognizes "the person designated as agent for this purpose by the decedent in a will or other verified and attested document," plus the DD Form 93 designee for a servicemember when there's no known designation in a will or other verified and attested document. There is no statutory funeral-agent form. A health care power of attorney can carry the instruction: S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-517(b) provides that a document meeting the requirements of Part 5 which "also provides expressions of the principal's intentions or wishes with respect to the following health care issues authorizes the health care agent to act in accordance with these provisions," and (b)(6) on that list is "provisions for interment or disposal of the body after death." A conforming document names and addresses the agent, states the types of decisions the agent may make, and is signed by the principal, witnessed by at least two people who meet § 62-5-503, and attested by a notary public under § 62-5-517(a), which is also what would let it read as a "verified and attested document" under § 32-8-320(A)(1). The statutory form is narrower than the statute allows: the § 62-5-504 health care power of attorney form has an organ donation item and nothing on burial, cremation, interment, or the body. Across the whole of Part 5 (Health Care Powers of Attorney, §§ 62-5-500 to 62-5-518) as posted on scstatehouse.gov, "interment" appears once, in § 62-5-517(b)(6), and "burial" and "cremation" do not appear at all.

When the same tier disagrees. S.C. Code Ann. § 32-8-320(E): "If a dispute arises among persons of equal priority, as provided for in subsection (A), concerning the cremation of a decedent, the matter must be resolved by order of the probate court." Subsection (B) supplies the within-class rule short of court: for classes (A)(1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (9), a member of the class may authorize unless that member knows of an objection by another member within the class, and where an objection is known, authorization may be made only by a majority of the members of the class who are reasonably available. Subsection (C) bars a person from executing an authorization while a person in a prior class is reasonably available to make or object to it.

South Carolina has no general disposition-of-remains priority statute. § 32-8-320 sits inside the Safe Cremation Act and is written around cremation authority, though § 32-8-305(2) defines the "agent" as the person entitled "to order the cremation and final disposition of specific human remains," and § 32-8-305(18) defines final disposition to include burial and entombment. The HISTORY note on the official code page reads "1994 Act No. 435, SECTION 1; 1998 Act No. 346, SECTION 1; 2010 Act No. 221, SECTION 1, eff June 8, 2010; 2012 Act No. 138, SECTION 1, eff April 2, 2012," with an Effect of Amendment note recording that the 2010 amendment added the DD Form 93 clause to (A)(1) and the 2012 amendment rewrote the section. So the list has stood in its current form since April 2, 2012. The separation carve-out is unusually specific: a spouse separated under any of the three listed orders or agreements drops out of the list entirely. The any-one-unless-objection rule in § 32-8-320(B) names classes (A)(1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (9). That covers the designation class at the top of the list and the residual class at the bottom, as well as the family classes. It leaves out (A)(2) and (A)(8), which are single-person classes in any event. The last three tiers come from § 32-8-320(D) and apply only "in the absence of a person serving as a decedent's agent pursuant to subsection (A)." Subsection (F) adds that where a funeral home transfers a body to another funeral home solely for cremation, the cremating home may rely in good faith on a cremation authorization executed at the home handling the arrangements.

Source: S.C. Code Ann. § 32-8-320 (Persons who may serve as a decedent's agent; authorize cremation), part of the Safe Cremation Act, S.C. Code Ann. § 32-8-300 et seq.; current form since 2012 Act No. 138, § 1, eff. April 2, 2012 ↗

If you can't afford the funeral in South Carolina

Three separate pots of money, on three different agencies' websites, collected nowhere. A family that qualifies for all three usually claims none of them.

1. When nobody can pay. No statewide program and no state burial fund. Under S.C. Code § 17-5-570 an unclaimed body goes to the coroner of the county where the death occurred, and that county pays for disposition. A family finds their program by calling that county coroner's office (the county where the person died, not where they lived). County coroner's office of the county where the death occurred

What it pays. not published. The statute sets no figure and no statewide fund exists. What it does set is an order of payment: 'If the deceased has an estate out of which burial expenses can be paid either in whole or in part, the estate must be taken for that purpose before an expense under this section is imposed upon a county.'

What disqualifies you. The statute's test is that nobody claims the body and the estate can't cover it: 'After the post-mortem examination, autopsy, or inquest has been completed, the dead body must be released to the person lawfully entitled to it for burial. If no person claims the body, the coroner or medical examiner must notify the board created pursuant to Section 44-43-510. If the board does not accept the body, the body must be turned over to the coroner of the county where death occurred for disposition as provided by law.' Income tests, if any, are set county by county and no county publishes one statewide.

The official page ↗

2. If the death was caused by a crime. 'Payment for funeral/burial expenses may be up to $6,500 with proper documentation.'

South Carolina crime victim compensation ↗

3. Money the person was already owed. Search South Carolina's unclaimed property before you borrow anything. Searching and claiming are free.

South Carolina unclaimed property ↗

The estate pays first by law, so anything the person left gets used before the county spends a cent. And it's the coroner of the county where the death happened who handles it, which catches families out when someone dies in a hospital one county over. Since May 15, 2026, a coroner can have an unidentifiable or unclaimed body cremated 30 days after the date of death or discovery (S.C. Code § 17-5-590). A body is unclaimed when nobody can be located to take it, or the person who can take it can't or won't take financial responsibility for the disposition. A family that wants to arrange the disposition itself should contact the coroner before the 30 days are up.

At a Glance

South Carolina Estate and Inheritance Tax

The Department of Revenue's own line: 'South Carolina has no Estate Tax for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2005.' The estate tax in S.C. Code ch. 12-16 was keyed to the federal credit for state death taxes, and that credit is gone. South Carolina levies no inheritance tax either, so heirs pay no state tax on what they inherit. The fiduciary of a resident estate does still file a South Carolina Fiduciary Income Tax return (SC1041) if the estate had South Carolina taxable income, had to file federally, or has a nonresident beneficiary.

Federal Estate Tax

Residents of South Carolina are still subject to the federal estate tax if their estate's value exceeds the federal exemption. For 2026 the exemption is $15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, and the top rate is 40%.

• -The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the $15 million exemption permanent and indexed it for inflation, so the drop to roughly $7 million once scheduled under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act never took effect.
• -The figure is indexed each year, so check the current year's IRS number before relying on it.

Does South Carolina have an estate tax?

No. South Carolina has no state estate tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for a married couple.

Does South Carolina have an inheritance tax?

No. South Carolina doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive.

What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?

$15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent. Estates below the threshold owe no federal estate tax.

At a Glance

Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA)

South Carolina has adopted its version of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which provides the legal framework for organ, eye, and tissue donation. This act ensures that an individual's decision to donate is honored.

• -Individuals can register their decision to be an organ donor through the Department of Motor Vehicles or online registries.
• -The UAGA outlines who can make anatomical gifts and the procedures for doing so.

Donor Registry and Consent

Registering as an organ donor in South Carolina creates a legal and binding document of gift. Nobody else can make, amend, or revoke the gift after your death (S.C. Code § 44-43-335(A)). One exception: if the donor is an unemancipated minor, a parent who is reasonably available can revoke or amend the gift (S.C. Code § 44-43-335(G)). Organ procurement organizations still consult families in practice, so tell yours what you decided.

• -Family consent is typically sought if the deceased hadn't registered as a donor.
• -All hospital and physician charges related to organ and tissue donation after death are paid by the appropriate procurement agency.

Source: S.C. Code § 44-43-335 (preclusive effect of anatomical gift, amendment, or revocation) ↗