The figures on this page are the ones a statute or a named, dated publisher sets. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for South Carolina with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.
What a living trust actually costs in South Carolina
There are three ways to set up a revocable living trust in South Carolina. What each includes differs; what each costs is not set by law and is not published by any independent source we could find:
| How it’s prepared | Price in South Carolina | What the engagement or the service’s terms state |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney-drafted | Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 | Whatever the written engagement letter lists. It is the engagement, not a market convention, that fixes the scope. |
| Online service | Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 | Whatever the service’s own published terms list. |
| DIY template | Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 | The document alone. Drafting and funding are the purchaser’s to do. |
We found no published source for this figure as of September 2026. The South Carolina trust prices that are published come from law firms, online document sellers, or sites paid to refer customers to them. None is an independent publisher, so none is cited here.
No South Carolina statute sets what a living trust costs. South Carolina trust law governs how a trust is created and administered; it fixes no drafting charge. What is fixed by law is the probate side of the comparison, below. A trust holds assets outside probate only to the extent those assets are retitled into it, and deed preparation — the step that retitles real estate — is a separate charge wherever the trust is drafted.
What drives the price within South Carolina
No South Carolina statute sets any of these, and we found no independent published source for how much each moves the price as of September 2026. They are the items a drafting engagement is made of:
- A joint trust for a married couple, against a single-person trust, against two separate trusts.
- A new deed drafted and recorded for every property retitled into the trust, and a separate one in each other state where property is held.
- A blended family, a special-needs beneficiary, a business interest, or estate-tax exposure.
- Whether the price covers the trust document alone or a package with a pour-over will and powers of attorney.
What probate costs in South Carolina by comparison
A funded living trust holds assets outside probate. The figure it is measured against is therefore the cost of South Carolina probate itself.
South Carolina probate costs scale with estate value, through a sliding-scale court filing fee (§8-21-770) that grows with value and a personal-representative commission capped at 5% (§62-3-719). The eight-month creditor window also keeps most estates open close to a year.
On a $500,000 South Carolina estate the §8-21-770(B) filing fee is $695, and attorney fees are not set by statute. The §62-3-719(a) personal-representative commission is not computed on the whole estate: it is capped at five percent of the appraised value of the estate's PERSONAL property plus the sales proceeds of real property sold as the will or a court order directs, with a $50 minimum, so a $500,000 estate holding real property that is not sold under such a direction has a smaller commission base than its total value.
For the full breakdown, see How Much Does Probate Cost in South Carolina?.
How South Carolina probate cost compares to trust cost
South Carolina has no TOD deed for real estate, so solely-owned real property passes through probate unless titled into a trust or held with survivorship. South Carolina also charges a sliding-scale filing fee based on estate value.
A living trust operates on two things: assets retitled into it pass outside probate, and the trust document governs management if the grantor becomes incapacitated. Those are the documented functions; the figures above are what each costs in South Carolina.
South Carolina-specific things to know
South Carolina has adopted the South Carolina Trust Code (S.C. Code Title 62, Article 7), its version of the Uniform Trust Code, so trust administration is well-settled here. The state has no estate or inheritance tax, so most trusts are about probate avoidance, not tax.
Funding. A trust only avoids probate for assets you retitle into it — recording a new deed for South Carolina real estate with the county Register of Deeds and updating account ownership. Transfers into your own revocable trust are generally exempt from the state deed-recording (documentary) stamp tax. A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; assets left in the grantor’s own name pass through probate whether or not a trust exists.
What affects the price in South Carolina
We found no published source for South Carolina trust pricing as of September 2026, so this page states no range and no price drivers beyond what the work itself consists of, above. The one price on this page that is fixed by law is the probate court’s, in the section above, with the statute that fixes it cited there.
What determines whether a trust applies in South Carolina
In South Carolina the operative factor is solely-owned real estate — no TOD deed exists, and the filing fee scales with estate value. Accounts with named beneficiaries pass by designation.
The circumstances in which a living trust has a documented effect:
- Real estate, particularly in more than one state — property in another state otherwise requires a separate ancillary probate there.
- Privacy — a probated will becomes a public court record; a trust does not.
- Incapacity — a trust governs management during life; a will takes effect only at death.
- Staged distributions — a trust can direct payment over time; a will distributes at closing.
Where an estate consists of assets that already pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership, those assets bypass probate without a trust. For the documented differences between the two instruments, see Will vs. Trust: How They Differ.
What the record shows
| Item | South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Price of a living trust | Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 |
| Governing statutes | S.C. Code §62-3-719 (PR commission); S.C. Code §8-21-770 (probate filing fees); S.C. Code Title 62, Article 7 (SC Trust Code); S.C. Code §62-3-1201 (small-estate affidavit) |
| State authority | South Carolina Judicial Branch and county Probate Courts (sccourts.org) |
A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; an unfunded trust leaves those assets in probate. The South Carolina probate figures this is measured against are set out above with their citations. No figure is published here for what a trust costs to draft: we found no independent published source as of September 2026.
Living trust costs in other states
Compare South Carolina with living trust pricing in other states:
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in California?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Texas?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Florida?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Virginia?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in New York?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Pennsylvania?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Illinois?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Ohio?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Georgia?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in North Carolina?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Michigan?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Connecticut?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Arkansas?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Indiana?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Oklahoma?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Oregon?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in New Jersey?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Washington?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Arizona?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Colorado?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Massachusetts?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Maryland?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Minnesota?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Missouri?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Alabama?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Alaska?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Delaware?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Hawaii?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Idaho?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Iowa?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Kansas?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Kentucky?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Louisiana?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Maine?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Mississippi?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Montana?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Nebraska?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Nevada?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in New Hampshire?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in New Mexico?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in North Dakota?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Rhode Island?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in South Dakota?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Tennessee?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Utah?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Vermont?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in West Virginia?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Wisconsin?
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Wyoming?
Related reading
- How Much Does a Living Trust Cost? — the national-level cost picture and what’s included.
- Will vs. Trust: How They Differ — the documented differences, side by side.
- How Much Does Probate Cost in South Carolina? — what a trust is helping you avoid, in dollars.
- How to Avoid Probate: The Transfers That Pass Outside It — the full menu of probate-avoidance tools, not just trusts.
- Estate Planning Checklist: Everything in One Place — the documents and decisions a trust fits into.
This page sets out what South Carolina law fixes about a living trust and the probate it is measured against, as of September 2026. It is not legal or financial advice; statutes and thresholds change and depend on your situation. Confirm current figures and rules with a licensed South Carolina attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: South Carolina Judicial Branch and county Probate Courts (sccourts.org); S.C. Code §62-3-719 (PR commission), S.C. Code §8-21-770 (probate filing fees), S.C. Code Title 62, Article 7 (SC Trust Code), S.C. Code §62-3-1201 (small-estate affidavit).