Richland County Probate Court

If someone died while living in Richland County and left a house, the estate goes through the Richland County Probate Court in downtown Columbia. This page answers the four questions we hear most: where to start, when you can sell, how to know whether you have authority to sell, and what happens when other family members are involved.

Where do I start?

Start by getting the personal representative appointed. Until the court appoints someone, nobody has legal authority to act for the estate, and that includes selling, signing, or in most cases even emptying the house.

The practical order of operations:

1. Locate the original will, if there is one. South Carolina requires the original to be delivered to the probate court within 30 days of death.
2. Get certified death certificates. Order several. Nearly every institution wants its own.
3. File to open the estate at the Richland County Probate Court, with the will, an application, a certified death certificate, and the filing fee.
4. Wait for Letters. The court issues documentation confirming the personal representative’s authority, typically one to three weeks after filing. Very little can happen before this.
5. Read the will’s powers section carefully. This is where you find out whether you can sell the house without a separate court order.
6. File the Inventory and Appraisement (Form 350ES) within 90 days of appointment.

What you can do right now, before any of that: secure the property, make sure it is insured and that the insurer knows it is vacant, keep the utilities on, and stop worrying about the house not being on the market. Nothing is lost by a house sitting for a few weeks while authority gets sorted out. A great deal can be lost by acting without authority.

When can I sell the house?

In most cases, well before the estate closes. Selling the real estate and closing the estate are two separate events, and people routinely conflate them.

What has to be settled before a sale is the personal representative’s authority to sell. What does not have to be finished is the full administration. The eight-month creditor claim period, the final accounting, the distribution to heirs, none of that has to be complete for the house to close.

• Weeks 1 to 3: estate opened, personal representative appointed, Letters issued
• Once authority is confirmed: the house can be listed
• Months 8 to 12: the estate itself is typically closed, often long after the house has sold

The exception is when a petition to sell is required. If the personal representative needs the court’s permission, that adds time, from a few weeks if nobody objects to considerably longer if someone does.

How do I know if I can sell?

It comes down to one paragraph in the will, and it is worth finding before you do anything else.

If the will grants the personal representative power of sale, you generally do not need a separate court order. The personal representative can list and sell much like any other owner, subject to their duties to the estate and the beneficiaries.

If the will is silent on power of sale, or there is no will at all, the personal representative generally must ask the court for permission first. That is a Petition for Sale of Real Estate (Form 430ES), filed with a summons and the filing fee. Interested parties are served and have an opportunity to be heard.

Why to check this early rather than late. We have seen contracts come apart because everyone assumed the authority was there and found out otherwise close to closing. Buyers and their lenders will want to see that the authority exists. A petition filed at the last minute is weeks of delay at best.

If you are not sure what you are reading in the will, that is normal. The powers section is dense and it is not written for people outside the profession. An hour with an estate attorney to answer this one question is usually money well spent, and it is the most useful hour you can buy early in the process.

Read the full guide: how probate real estate works in Columbia, SC →

What if other family members are involved?

Very common, rarely fatal, and usually less about the house than it looks.

• If the personal representative has power of sale, they generally have authority to proceed even if a beneficiary objects. Doing that over real opposition is a decision to make with counsel, not alone.
• If a petition to sell is required, interested parties are served and can be heard. The court decides.

What actually helps. In our experience most disagreements among heirs are not really about whether to sell. They are about the number, or about fairness, or about who has been doing the work. A defensible written opinion of value, backed by actual comparable sales rather than an opinion, settles a surprising share of them, because it takes the argument out of the realm of feelings and puts it on paper.

What also helps. Communicating the same information to everyone at the same time. A lot of estate conflict is created by one sibling learning something second-hand. We are glad to put updates in writing to every heir at once so nobody is guessing.

Where we stop. If the disagreement is genuinely legal, about the validity of the will, whether the personal representative is acting properly, or a claim against the estate, that belongs with an attorney. We will say so plainly rather than trying to mediate something we are not qualified to mediate.

Richland County Probate Court: location and contact

Two practical notes. Calling ahead for an appointment is generally advisable rather than walking in. And if you are sending documents by UPS or another private courier, send them to the physical Main Street address, since the P.O. Box does not accept private carrier deliveries.

Court contact details, hours and personnel verified September 16, 2026. Confirm current information with the court, as these change.

Do I file in Richland County?

You file where the person lived at the time of death, not where the house is. This is the most common mix-up we see.

If your mother lived in Columbia inside Richland County, you file here, even if the house she owned sits in Lexington County. If she lived in Lexington or Chapin, you file in Lexington County instead, even if the house is in Columbia.

If the person lived outside South Carolina but owned property in Richland County, that is a different process called ancillary administration, and it is worth speaking with an estate attorney before filing anything.

What does it cost to open an estate?

South Carolina uses a fee schedule based on the gross value of the probate estate. Counties can add local costs and billing practices, so confirm the total with the court.

Worked example. An estate whose main asset is a $400,000 Columbia house would pay $95.00 plus 0.15% of $300,000, which is $450, for a filing fee of roughly $545.

Beyond the filing fee, budget for newspaper publication of the notice to creditors, certified death certificates, deed recording, and a bond if one is required. A personal representative in South Carolina generally must post bond unless the will waives it or the heirs waive it in writing, and the bond amount reflects the value of the probate estate plus expected income.

Fee schedule verified September 16, 2026. Fees change; confirm current amounts with the court.

What are the deadlines?

Set by the South Carolina Probate Code, Title 62, and applicable in every county:

• 30 days to deliver the original will to the probate court after death (§ 62-2-901)
• 90 days after appointment to file the Inventory and Appraisement, Form 350ES (§ 62-3-706)
• 8 months creditor claim period from first publication of the notice to creditors (§ 62-3-801). Creditors who receive actual written notice have 60 days
• 9 months for federal estate tax filing, if the estate is large enough to require it

The eight-month creditor period usually sets the floor on the timeline. Even with every debt paid and everyone in agreement, a full administration generally is not closed before it runs. A routine Richland County estate typically takes 8 to 12 months. Complex or contested estates run 12 to 24 months or longer.

Remember that this is the timeline for closing the estate, not for selling the house.

Is there a shortcut for small estates?

If the probate estate is $25,000 or less after liens and encumbrances, an Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property (Form 420ES) may be available after a 30-day waiting period instead of a full administration.

This rarely helps when a house is involved. The threshold counts the probate estate, and a Columbia house on its own will generally exceed $25,000. We mention it because people ask, not because it is likely to apply.

What actually slows an estate sale down

From estates we have handled across the Midlands, the delays are fairly predictable:

• Authority not confirmed early. The power of sale question above. This is the big one.
• Heirs who cannot be located. Some estates cannot close until missing or unknown heirs are found and notified.
• Deferred maintenance on a long-held house. A home held for decades by an owner aging in place usually needs work, and what to repair versus price for has to be decided in the estate’s interest rather than out of sentiment.
• Historic district design review. Property in one of Columbia’s designated districts, including Elmwood Park and Cottontown, needs review for exterior work, which takes time that has to fit inside the probate timeline.
• Out-of-state heirs. Coordinating access, cleanout, repairs and closing remotely is routine for us, but it has to be planned rather than improvised.
• Personal property nobody has dealt with. The house does not show well until it is cleared, and clearing it is often the hardest part emotionally.

What this page is and is not

Frequently asked questions

Working through an estate in Richland County?

Whether you are waiting on Letters, trying to work out whether you can sell, or managing a conversation among several family members, a call costs you nothing.

Related: Probate Real Estate in Columbia, SC · Letting Go of the House · Columbia neighborhood guides

Information compiled from the Richland County Probate Court and the South Carolina Probate Code, Title 62, and verified September 16, 2026. Provided for general information only. This is not legal, tax or financial advice, and The Highland Company Real Estate does not practice law. Fees, forms, personnel and deadlines change without notice; verify current details with the court. Consult a South Carolina estate attorney about your specific situation. The Highland Company Real Estate complies with the federal Fair Housing Act and South Carolina Real Estate Commission regulations.