Selling an Inherited Home in Georgetown, SC

This page is general information about selling a home from an estate or trust in South Carolina. It is not legal advice. Who may sell, and how, depends on the will, the trust document, and the court, so please talk with the estate attorney before you act. I am a real estate professional, not a lawyer, and my part is the sale itself.

When the owner lived in Georgetown County, the estate goes to Georgetown County's Probate Court, in Room 140 at 401 Cleland Street, open 8:30 to 5 on weekdays, with mail going to P.O. Box 421270. The court says it handles estates through both informal and formal processes and that the informal one is routinely used when there is no dispute, and its staff will answer questions but does not give legal advice, so the estate attorney decides which process fits, and the court points to the state's sccourts.org forms.

On the house side, I start with the deed. Georgetown's Register of Deeds has property transfers and mortgages back to the late 1860s and shows deed images, where available, at georgetowndeeds.com, so we can confirm how title was held and whether a mortgage is still of record before the attorney plans the closing.

South Carolina's disclosure law does not apply to a transfer by a fiduciary in the course of administering a decedent's estate or a trust; the attorney confirms whether your sale qualifies. A sale to a buyer carries the deed recording fee of $1.85 per $500 of value, $1,017.50 on $275,000, while a deed of distribution passing the house to an heir under the probate code is not subject to it. We compare the as-is price, the after-repair price, and the repair costs and time. For tax purposes, an inherited house generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death, or the later alternate valuation date the personal representative chooses, according to IRS Publication 523. When heirs disagree, the estate attorney decides how it is resolved, and every heir gets the same comps from me. See what your Georgetown home is worth and selling your home in Georgetown, and call me when you are ready.