Frost First. · Before you sign, settle, or answer questions — call us.(843) 419-6653
Frost Law GroupSummerville, SC(843) 419-6653
Probate · Charleston County

Probate Attorney Serving Charleston, SC

Charleston County estates are opened on Broad Street and administered under statewide rules that a former probate judge knows from the bench. We handle them for families across the county, and we are honest about which ones you can handle yourself.

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The short answer

Frost Law Group handles probate and estate administration in the Charleston County Probate Court: opening the estate, guiding the personal representative through notices, the inventory and the creditor period, selling or distributing real estate, resolving disputes among heirs, and closing. Tara Frost served as a Dorchester County Associate Probate Judge, and the Probate Code she applied from the bench is the same code the Charleston court applies. Our office is in Summerville, about thirty minutes from Broad Street, and most of a Charleston estate can be handled by phone, e-mail and the court’s EZ-Filing system.

What we do in a Charleston County estate

  • Open the estate correctly. Application, will, bond or waivers, and the certificate of appointment, filed through EZ-Filing so letters issue without a second trip. See the South Carolina probate process.
  • Guide the personal representative. The duties, deadlines and liabilities of a personal representative are the same statewide: notice to heirs within thirty days, the inventory within ninety, the eight-month creditor period, taxes, and an accounting.
  • Handle the real estate. Deeds of distribution recorded at the Charleston County Register of Deeds, sales during administration, rental property that keeps producing income while the estate is open, and the deed and title problems that surface when a family has owned land on Johns Island or Wadmalaw for generations.
  • Resolve disputes. Accountings, removal petitions and self-dealing claims, will contests and trust disputes, tried before the probate judge or, on demand, a jury. The Charleston court tries hundreds of litigated cases a year.
  • Small estates and summary administration when the probate estate is under $45,000 or the real estate is already in a trust, using the small estate affidavit.
  • Guardianships and conservatorships in the court’s Commitment and Guardianship Division at 100 Broad Street, including conservatorships for minors and settlement approvals.

The court, briefly

Estates are opened in the Estate Division on the third floor of the Historic Courthouse at 84 Broad Street; guardianships and conservatorships are in the Judicial Center across the street at 100 Broad Street, Suite 469. Both are open weekdays from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, and filings go in electronically through EZ-Filing. Our guide to the Charleston County Probate Court covers addresses, phones, fees, forms and the court’s free workshops.

Charleston County Probate Court

100 Broad Street, Suite 469 (Historic Courthouse, 84 Broad Street), Charleston, SC 29401 · (843) 958-5180 · Website

Estates, guardianships and conservatorships for Charleston County residents, including North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, West Ashley, James Island and Johns Island.

Charleston estates have Charleston problems

  • Real estate values push fees and taxes up. The estate fee is $845 for a $600,000 estate and $1,095 at $700,000, and a downtown or island home often needs an appraisal, a decision about selling during administration, and flood insurance kept in force meanwhile.
  • Heirs’ property. Land passed down for generations without probate, with dozens of cousins holding fractional shares, is common on Johns Island, Wadmalaw and in the Sea Island communities. Clearing it means opening the estates that were never opened, sometimes several at once.
  • Heirs out of state or overseas. Charleston families are scattered. Waivers, renunciations and receipts have to be signed and notarized wherever the heirs are, and a personal representative who lives out of state may need a resident agent.
  • Second homes and rentals. Short-term rental income, property managers, HOA dues and the question of who pays carrying costs until distribution all need decisions in the first month.
  • Ancillary estates. When someone who lived in another state dies owning Charleston County real estate, a second, ancillary proceeding is opened here to pass title. We handle those for out-of-state families and their lawyers.

What it costs

Court fees are set by statute and paid from the estate. Our fee is usually a flat fee for an uncontested estate, quoted after we see the will and the asset list, and it is paid from the estate as an administration expense, not from the family’s pocket. Contested matters are billed by the hour with an estimate up front.

Do you need a lawyer?

Not always, and we say so. A will that leaves everything to one person, a house that will be sold, cooperative heirs and simple accounts can be handled by a careful family member who uses the court’s estate appointments and workshops. Call us when real estate will be kept or divided, when heirs are far away or at odds, when there is no will and the family is complicated, when a business or heirs’ property is involved, or when a creditor, a caregiver or a sibling has already raised an objection.

Settling an estate in Charleston County?

Bring the will and a list of what was owned. We will tell you whether you need us, what it would cost, and what to do this week.

Schedule a consultation(843) 419-6653

Questions people ask

Do you handle probate in Charleston County from Summerville?

Yes. Charleston County estates are filed electronically through EZ-Filing, and most of the work is documents, notices and phone calls. We go to Broad Street for hearings and when a family prefers to meet there.

How long does probate take in Charleston County?

At least eight months because of the creditor period; routine estates close in ten to fourteen months, and estates with real estate to sell or disputes take longer.

What does a probate lawyer cost in Charleston, SC?

Uncontested estates are usually a flat fee quoted after we see the will and the assets, paid from the estate. Contested matters are hourly with an estimate. Court fees are separate and set by statute.

What is heirs’ property?

Land that passed through generations without wills or probate, so title sits in the names of long-dead owners and their many descendants. Clearing it requires opening the estates that were skipped, and sometimes a partition action. It is common in Charleston County’s Sea Island communities.

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