South Carolina gift deed

What a gift deed does in South Carolina

A gift deed transfers property with no money changing hands, and it says so on its face. Stating the donative intent matters: it can support a transfer-tax exemption in states that tax transfers and it documents that the recipient paid nothing, which is exactly what a recorder, an assessor, and later the IRS will want to see. Mechanically it operates like a quitclaim. Immediate, and without title warranties.

A gift deed operates like a quitclaim deed but states that the transfer is a gift. Where transfer tax is based on the price paid, that usually means little or no tax; this state's exemptions are listed on this page.

The South Carolina law behind this deed

South Carolina has no section written specifically for gift deeds. The instrument runs on the general conveyancing and recording statutes below, which is why the requirements here look like those for any other deed in the state.

When South Carolina homeowners use a gift deed

• Give a house or land to a child or grandchild
• Transfer property to a sibling or parent for no payment
• Record that a transfer is a gift, for tax and title records
• Make a charitable gift of real estate

What South Carolina requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules registers of deeds enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.

How to complete and record it in South Carolina

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Register of Deeds (or Clerk of Court) can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for South Carolina deeds.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID and 2 witnesses. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary and the witnesses, who must see you sign.
5. 5Complete Affidavit for Taxable or Exempt TransfersSouth Carolina requires this alongside the deed, including for exempt transfers. Your filing packet explains which boxes apply to your situation.
6. 6Record it with the Register of Deeds (or Clerk of Court)File in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
7. 7Update insurance and tax recordsA change of ownership can affect your homeowner's policy, your homestead or senior exemption, and in some states the assessed value. Do this within a few weeks.

What it costs in South Carolina

South Carolina charges a deed recording fee of $1.85 per $500 of value or fraction of $500 ($1.30 state + $0.55 county). The rate is set by S.C. Code §§ 12-24-10 and 12-24-90. The grantor owes the fee by law, and the grantee is secondarily liable (§ 12-24-20). Value is the price paid; paying off the grantor's mortgage or another debt in exchange for the deed counts as a price. For a transfer between an LLC or other entity and its owner, into a trust, or from a trust to a beneficiary, value is the property's fair market value (§ 12-24-30). So a transfer out of a trust that no listed exemption covers, or into a trust by someone who is not a beneficiary, owes the fee on the property's fair market value. Property on Hilton Head Island (Beaufort County) also owes the Town's Real Estate Transfer Fee: 0.25% of the sale price, collected by Beaufort County (Hilton Head Island Municipal Code Title 4, Chapter 5).

Exemptions that commonly apply to a transfer like this: gifts (to family or anyone else) and other transfers for $100 or less (exemption 1), transfers to a spouse and most divorce transfers to a former spouse (exemption 4), transfers into a trust by someone who is or becomes its beneficiary for no consideration (exemption 8), transfers from a family trust (every beneficiary a family member) to a beneficiary for no consideration (exemption 9), and deeds from a trust to its beneficiaries on the settlor's death under the trust terms where a deed of distribution would have been used had the property been in the probate estate (S.C. Code § 12-24-10(B)). You have to claim the exemption. The recorder won't apply it for you.

Where to record it in South Carolina

South Carolina deeds are recorded with the Register of Deeds (or Clerk of Court) in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 46 counties in South Carolina.

Many South Carolina recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in South Carolina: Greenville, Richland, Charleston, Horry, Spartanburg, Lexington, York, Berkeley. See all South Carolina recording offices.

What a gift deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• The recipient takes your original cost basis, not the current market value. A later sale can produce a large capital-gains bill that inheriting the property would have avoided.
• A gift over the annual exclusion requires you to file IRS Form 709, even if no tax is due.
• It is irrevocable once delivered and recorded. You can't take the property back if the relationship changes.
• Gifting a property within Medicaid's look-back period can create a penalty period for long-term-care eligibility.

Quirks of South Carolina law that catch people out

• South Carolina requires TWO witnesses to the grantor's signature (the notary may be one of them). This trips up most out-of-state DIY forms.
• A warranty or special warranty deed must include a derivation clause naming who conveyed the property to the grantor and when that deed was recorded (S.C. Code § 30-5-35). Most registers expect one on every deed except a quitclaim, and Greenville and Spartanburg reject a derivation clause with a blank in it.
• Every deed must be filed with a sworn affidavit that states the value, or the exemption that applies (S.C. Code § 12-24-70). It is notarized, and the register files it separately; it is not recorded as part of the deed.
• South Carolina abolished tenancy by the entirety.
• South Carolina does not recognize transfer-on-death deeds.

How to hold title in South Carolina

When two or more people take title in South Carolina and the deed says nothing more, the law presumes a tenancy in common, which means no automatic survivorship. If you want the survivor to take the whole property, the words have to be on the deed. Forms of co-ownership available in South Carolina: joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenancy in common.