South Carolina property deeds
Deed rules are state law, and South Carolina's differ from its neighbors in ways that decide whether your document records or comes back. Here is the whole picture: which deeds exist here, how they have to be signed, what the recorder wants on the page, and what it costs.
- Recording office
- Register of Deeds (or Clerk of Court)
- Witnesses
- 2 + notary
- Transfer tax
- $1.85 per $500 of value or fraction of $500
- First-page margin
- 3″ top
- Recording fee
- $15 per document
- E-recording
- Approved submitters
Deeds South Carolina recognizes
| Deed | What it does | Available? |
|---|---|---|
| Quitclaim deed | Transfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title. | Yes |
| General warranty deed | Transfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows. | Yes |
| Special warranty deed | Transfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it. | Yes |
| Transfer-on-death deed | Names who inherits your property, skips probate, and changes nothing while you're alive. | No |
| Lady Bird Deed | An enhanced life estate deed: you keep total control for life, and the property passes automatically at death. | No |
| Life estate deed | You keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you. | Yes, less common |
| Gift deed | Transfers property to someone as an outright gift, for no payment. | Yes, less common |
South Carolina does not recognize transfer-on-death deeds and lady bird deeds, so recording one here may not do what you want.
How a deed has to be signed in South Carolina
South Carolina is one of only 5 states that still require witnesses. South Carolina requires two credible witnesses to see the grantor sign and to sign the deed themselves (S.C. Code Ann. § 27-7-10). The grantor's acknowledgment before the notary must also be made in the witnesses' presence (§ 30-5-30(B)). The notary may be one of the two witnesses, so you need at least one other adult who is not a party to the deed.
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Notarization | Required. Sign in front of the notary and both witnesses. A South Carolina acknowledgment certifies that you signed in the notary's physical presence (S.C. Code § 26-1-5(1)), so a notary cannot acknowledge a deed you signed at home. |
| Witnesses | Two (the notary may be one) |
| Preparer statement | Customary, not required |
| Grantee address on the deed | Required |
| Prior deed reference | Required on warranty and special warranty deeds (a derivation clause, S.C. Code § 30-5-35). Not required on a quitclaim deed. The statute also exempts other deeds that carry no warranty, but most registers exempt only quitclaims, so Deedly prints one on every South Carolina deed except a quitclaim. |
| Spousal joinder | Not generally required |
South Carolina document formatting rules
A safe layout for South Carolina is 8.5 × 11 inch paper with a 3-inch clear space at the top of the first page for the register of deeds' stamp, 1.5-inch margins elsewhere, and no type smaller than 10 point. That is the profile Deedly formats every South Carolina document to. Writing into the recorder's stamp area is the most common formatting rejection there is.
- South Carolina has no statewide margin statute, and counties differ. Greenville asks for a 1.5-inch margin at the top and bottom of every page for the recording stamp, Spartanburg for margins of at least 1.5 inches, and Richland for clear space at the top or bottom for its label. Deedly formats every South Carolina deed to the strictest of these: a 3-inch clear space at the top of page one and 1.5-inch margins on every other edge, printed in black.
South Carolina transfer tax and recording fees
South Carolina charges Deed recording fee at $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).
Common exemptions: 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)).
A form has to travel with the deed
South Carolina requires Affidavit for Taxable or Exempt Transfers with most recorded deeds, including gifts and other exempt transfers. Recorders reject packages that are missing it.
Recording fees run $15 per document. The $15 recording fee is set by state law and is the same in every county, whatever the page count (S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-310(A)(1)). The deed recording fee is charged on top.
See how South Carolina's transfer tax and recording fee compare with other states.
How to hold title in South Carolina
- Sole ownership. One person owns everything.
- Tenancy in common. Separate, divisible shares with no survivorship. A deceased owner's share goes to their heirs.
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Equal shares; the survivor takes the whole property automatically.
Where to record a deed in South Carolina
Deeds are recorded with the Register of Deeds (or Clerk of Court) in the county where the property is located. South Carolina has 46 counties. Many offices accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders.
Greenville · Richland · Charleston · Horry · Spartanburg · Lexington · York · Berkeley. all South Carolina recording offices
Why deeds get rejected in South Carolina
- 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.
From $29. Every South Carolina rule above is applied automatically, and you read the finished document before you pay.
Common questions
You sign a deed, have it notarized in front of 2 witnesses, and record it with the Register of Deeds (or Clerk of Court) in the county where the property sits. Which deed depends on what you're doing: a quitclaim for family transfers and adding or removing a name, a warranty deed for a sale, and a living trust for probate avoidance.
South Carolina lets you prepare and record a deed for your own property yourself. If someone else prepares the deed for you, or the transfer is a sale or loan closing, South Carolina requires a licensed South Carolina attorney to handle or supervise it (In re Easler, 275 S.C. 400 (1980); State v. Buyers Service Co., 292 S.C. 426 (1987)). Use one when ownership is disputed, when the owner has died and the estate has not been probated, when the estate is large enough to owe tax, or when Medicaid planning is involved.
$15 per document. South Carolina also charges deed recording fee at $1.85 per $500 of value or fraction of $500 ($1.30 state + $0.55 county).
No. South Carolina is not among the 34 states plus DC that authorize a transfer-on-death deed. The usual alternatives here are a revocable living trust or survivorship titling.
Keep reading
- South Carolina quitclaim deedTransfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title.
- South Carolina general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- South Carolina special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- South Carolina life estate deedYou keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you.
- South Carolina recording officesWhere to file in each county, with fees and contact details.
- Compare all 51 jurisdictionsWitness rules, transfer taxes, and recording fees side by side.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.