South Carolina: Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements

South Carolina does not allow a transfer-on-death deed — sometimes called a "beneficiary deed" — for
real estate. There is no statute that lets you record a deed naming who inherits your house at your death
while you keep full control during life. If you want your home to skip probate, you have to use a
different tool.

The name causes real confusion, because South Carolina does have a "Transfer on Death" statute — but
it is limited to titled personal property. Under S.C. Code § 62-6-401, you can put a TOD
designation on a vehicle, mobile home, watercraft, or outboard motor titled by the DMV or the Department
of Natural Resources. The statute's own definitions confine "Transfer on Death" to that kind of
DMV/DNR-titled property (§ 62-6-101(16)–(17)); it says nothing about land or houses.

How South Carolinians keep a home out of probate instead

Because there is no TOD deed for real estate, the practical options are:

• A revocable living trust. You create the trust and deed your home into it during life. You stay in
  control as trustee, and at death your successor trustee transfers the property to your beneficiaries
  without probate. This is the closest functional substitute for a TOD deed.
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. If you own the home with someone else "as joint tenants
  with right of survivorship," the survivor automatically owns the whole property when you die — no
  probate needed. The trade-off is that you give the co-owner a present ownership interest now.
• A life estate deed. You can deed the property but reserve a life estate, so it passes to the named
  remainderperson at your death. A traditional life estate, though, limits your ability to sell or
  mortgage without the remainderperson's cooperation — which is exactly the flexibility a TOD deed (and
  the proposed "Lady Bird" bill) would have provided.

Everything else — a will, or dying without one — sends the house through probate, where the probate
court oversees transfer to your heirs or devisees.

What trips people up

• "Transfer on Death" in South Carolina means your car, not your house. The § 62-6-401 TOD
  designation is for DMV/DNR-titled personal property only (§ 62-6-101(17)). Recording a "TOD deed" for
  real estate does nothing here.
• A change may be coming, but it is not law yet. In the 2025–2026 session, the legislature considered
  S. 49 (which would add § 27-1-80 to create a real-property TOD designation) and H. 4264 (a
  "Lady Bird"/enhanced life estate deed). Neither was enacted. Do not act as though a TOD deed is
  available until a bill actually becomes law.
• A trust only works if you fund it. Signing a living trust but never deeding the home into it leaves
  the house in your probate estate. The transfer of the deed is the step that matters.

Common questions

I saw a "South Carolina transfer-on-death deed" form online. Can I use it? No. Those forms are sold
nationwide, but South Carolina has no statute making a real-property TOD deed effective. Recording one
will not pass your house at death; the property will still go through probate or by your will.

South Carolina lets me put a "TOD" on my truck — why not my house? Because the legislature wrote the
TOD statute (§ 62-6-401) only for personal property that the DMV or DNR titles. Real estate was left out.
A separate bill (S. 49) would extend the idea to land, but it has not passed.

What is the simplest way to avoid probate on my home here? For most people it is a revocable living
trust with the home deeded into it, or holding title in joint tenancy with right of survivorship
with the person who should inherit. An attorney can tell you which fits your situation and your Medicaid
and creditor concerns.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code § 62-6-401 (Transfer on Death designation — titled personal property only) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c006.php (accessed 2026-07-11)
• S.C. Code § 62-6-101(16)–(17) (definitions confining "Transfer on Death" and "titled personal property" to DMV/DNR-titled items) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c006.php (accessed 2026-07-11)