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Horry County, SC Probate Information
Quick facts
| Topic | Horry County details |
|---|---|
| Court | Horry County Probate Court |
| Courthouse address | Horry County Government and Justice Center, 1301 Second Avenue, Conway, SC 29526 |
| Mailing address | P.O. Box 288, Conway, SC 29528 |
| Phone | (843) 915-5370. The court's own packet directs callers to option 1. |
| Fax | (843) 915-6371 |
| General probate questions and appointments: [email protected]. Records and copy requests: [email protected]. | |
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Cost to open | The Horry County packet states that the initial fee paid at opening is $25.00 under S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-770, with any additional estate-value fee adjusted later from the inventory. If the estate is opened within one year of death, the court also collects a newspaper advertising charge. |
| Local forms | Yes. Horry County publishes a New Estate Opening Packet, a Will File Only Packet, a personal representative instruction sheet, a Probate Court Worksheet, a Copy Request Form, a Request for Hearing, and its own copies of the statewide estate forms. |
| Online filing | South Carolina's statewide E-Filing system is for the Court of Common Pleas and registered attorneys. Horry County publishes paper filing by mail or by in-person appointment for probate estates, not an online estate filing channel. |
| Online lookup | Horry County publishes its own public probate index at scportal.hostedbyspartan.com/HorryPublicProbate. |
| Remote participation | The court's Request for Hearing form includes a virtual-hearing request. Under the Supreme Court order on Remote Communication Technology, as amended February 19, 2025, the probate judge decides whether remote participation is allowed or required. |
| Website | horrycountysc.gov/departments/probate-court/ |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you open an estate in Horry County, list the decedent's accounts, real estate, vehicles, debts, funeral expenses, and likely heirs or devisees. Horry County's packet asks for a Probate Court Worksheet, deeds, account statements if available, funeral information, the original will if there is one, and a certified death certificate before the court schedules the opening appointment.
Sunset's estate settlement tools search across more than 2,300 institutions to help families find accounts and assets before they choose the correct Horry County filing path. That asset list also makes the court's paperwork-first review easier, especially when the personal representative lives outside South Carolina.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Horry County Probate Court serves the whole county from the Horry County Government and Justice Center in Conway. That includes Conway, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Aynor, Loris, Little River, and Green Sea.
South Carolina places each county probate court at the county seat, and Horry County's county seat is Conway (S.C. Code Ann. § 14-23-1010). Venue for a decedent's estate is generally the probate court for the county where the decedent was domiciled at death, so a Horry County resident's estate is filed with the Horry County Probate Court in Conway (S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-201).
The jurisdiction process
- Download the Horry County New Estate Opening Packet and estate forms from the court's forms page. Start with Form 300ES for informal application or formal petition, and use the Horry County Probate Court Worksheet to organize assets before filing.
- Send the paperwork before asking for an in-person opening appointment. Horry County instructs applicants to complete the forms, gather required documents, and mail or deliver the packet, documentation, and appropriate fees to the Probate Court first.
- Include the Horry County items the packet asks for: completed and notarized Form 300ES, the court's Affidavit of Personal Representative, the original will and codicils if any, a certified death certificate, the Probate Court Worksheet, obituary or funeral program information, funeral-bill information, deeds for real property, trust beneficiary documents if relevant, renunciations or bond waivers where needed, and guardian ad litem paperwork when minor children will inherit.
- Pay the initial $25.00 opening charge under S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-770 by check or money order payable to Horry County Probate Court. If the estate is opened within one year of death, include the newspaper advertising charge that the court quotes for the notice to creditors.
- Wait for court review. Horry County states that after it receives the opening packet, it reviews the documents and calls within seventy-two hours to schedule the opening appointment.
- Attend the opening appointment if one is needed. The initial appointment is with a judicial assistant, lasts about one hour, and requires a driver's license or state identification card plus any additional documents the judicial assistant requested.
- Receive authority to act. South Carolina's probate code calls the personal representative's authority document letters, including letters testamentary when there is a will and letters of administration when there is not (S.C. Code Ann. § 62-1-201). Administration begins when the court issues letters (§ 62-3-103), and the document Horry County banks and transfer agents usually ask to see is the Certificate of Appointment, Form 141PC, with the Probate Court's raised seal.
- Handle notice. Horry County collects the notice-to-creditors advertising charge at opening when the estate is opened within one year of death. After appointment, send Form 305ES to heirs and devisees and file the notarized proof of delivery with the court.
- File the inventory and manage claims. The inventory is due within ninety days after appointment under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-706. Creditors use Form 371ES, and claim deadlines are governed by the creditor-notice rules in S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-801.
- Record Horry County real-property transfers in the right order. If a deed of distribution is used, Horry County instructs the personal representative to record the original deed with the Horry County Register of Deeds first, then send a time-stamped copy to the Probate Court.
- Request hearings on the Horry County Request for Hearing form when a hearing is needed. The form asks for the type of hearing, time needed, available dates, and whether a virtual hearing is requested. The court completes the notice with the hearing date, time, and Courtroom 2A.
- Close the estate using the route the court's instruction sheet identifies for the facts of the estate: a verified statement to close, an application for settlement with waivers, or full accounting and proposal-for-distribution paperwork when waivers are not obtained.
Executor duties
- Send the completed opening packet, original will if any, certified death certificate, court worksheet, and opening payment before asking for an in-person appointment.
- Bring a driver's license or state identification card to the opening appointment, plus anything the judicial assistant asks for after reviewing the packet.
- Use the assigned judicial assistant as the point of contact for the estate once the court assigns the file.
- Pay the newspaper advertising charge of $30.00 to $55.00 depending on which Horry County newspaper publishes the notice, on the court's published fee schedule, when the estate is opened within one year of death.
- Send Form 305ES to every heir and devisee within thirty days after appointment, then file the notarized Form 120PC proof of delivery with the court.
- File the Inventory and Appraisement, Form 350ES, within ninety days after appointment under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-706, or request an extension before the due date.
- Record a deed of distribution with the Horry County Register of Deeds before filing it with the Probate Court, then send the Probate Court a time-stamped copy.
- Use the Horry County Request for Hearing form when a hearing is needed, and give interested persons at least twenty days' notice, or ten days for motions only.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Horry County
South Carolina publishes a statewide numbered Probate Court form set, including Form 300ES for informal application or formal petition, inventory forms, accounting forms, creditor-claim forms, real-property forms, and closing forms. Horry County also hosts its own copies of the estate form set in PDF and Word on the Horry County Probate Court forms page.
Horry County adds local estate settlement materials that are especially useful before filing: the New Estate Opening Packet, the Will File Only Packet, the Instructions for Personal Representative, instructions for Forms 300ES and 306ES, the Probate Court Worksheet, the court's Affidavit of Personal Representative, the Affidavit as to Reimbursement for Payment of Funeral Bill, the Copy Request Form, the Request for Hearing, sample summons materials, and the local Order for Mediation, 314HCPC, used with Rule 5.
Horry County hosts its own copy of Form 420ES, the small estate affidavit under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-1201. The county's forms page also republishes statewide Rule 5 mediation materials, but those rules are uniform statewide; the local piece is Horry County's own order form.
Fees
The estate filing fee is set by state statute and is the same in every South Carolina county (S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-770, current from 1995 Act No. 15, effective April 4, 1995 and retroactive to August 15, 1994). Horry County publishes that scale on its own fee page and also lists local charges for advertising, copies, certificates, research, and related probate services.
| Charge | Horry County amount |
|---|---|
| Initial amount paid with a new estate opening | $25.00 under S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-770, by check or money order payable to Horry County Probate Court |
| Notice-to-creditors advertising | $30.00 to $55.00 depending on which Horry County newspaper publishes the notice, on the court's published fee schedule |
| Certified copy | $5.00 plus $0.50 per page for photocopies, under § 8-21-770 |
| Exemplified or authenticated copy | $20.00 plus $0.50 per page for photocopies, under § 8-21-770 |
| Plain photocopy or microfilm copy | $0.50 per page |
| Research fee | $10.00 |
| Filing and indexing a will | $10.00 under § 8-21-770, plus an advertising charge the court quotes |
| Reopening a closed estate by subsequent administration | $22.50 under § 8-21-770 |
| Appointment of a special or temporary fiduciary in an estate | $22.50 under § 8-21-770 |
| Order issued without a hearing | $15.00 |
| Additional Certificates of Appointment after the initial five | $1.00 each. The authority document is the Certificate of Appointment, Form 141PC. |
| Formal petition or other proceeding not priced by estate value | $150.00 formal filing charge under § 8-21-770 |
| Administering oath to out-of-state fiduciary | $20.00 |
Timeline
- Before the appointment, send the completed Horry County opening packet, required documents, and opening payment to the court. Horry County states that it reviews the packet and calls within seventy-two hours to schedule the appointment.
- The opening appointment is with a judicial assistant and lasts approximately one hour.
- Within thirty days after appointment, send Form 305ES to heirs and devisees and file Form 120PC proof of delivery with the court.
- Within ninety days after appointment, file the Inventory and Appraisement, Form 350ES, under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-706, or file Form 352ES for an extension before the due date.
- For creditor claims, Horry County's instruction sheet follows S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-801: when notice is published after an estate is opened within one year after death, the claim period runs to the earlier applicable claims bar described by statute, including the eight months after first publication rule.
- Horry County's personal representative instruction sheet labels closing as due eight to twelve months after the date of publication, with creditor timing governed by S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-801.
- Hearings are requested on the Horry County Request for Hearing form. The requesting party lists the hearing type, time needed, and available dates, and the court completes the notice with the date, time, and room.
- The Horry County hearing form requires at least twenty days' notice of a hearing, or ten days for motions only, unless the applicable order provides otherwise.
- If a hearing is expected to last longer than one and one-half hours, the court instructs the requesting party to notify the Probate Court because the hearing may need to move to another date.
Local nuance
Horry County-specific considerations
| Local point | What it means in Horry County |
|---|---|
| Paperwork-first appointments | Appointments are required to open an estate in person, and the paperwork goes in first. The court reviews the packet and calls within seventy-two hours to schedule an appointment that lasts about one hour. |
| Judicial assistant assignment | Each estate is assigned to a judicial assistant. The court's personal representative instruction sheet includes a space for that assistant's email and direct line for the file. |
| Opening by mail | Horry County publishes mail as an alternative to opening an estate at an in-person appointment, which helps out-of-state personal representatives manage estate settlement without an immediate trip to Conway. |
| Advertising charge | The court places notice to creditors in one of six Horry County newspapers and collects $30.00 to $55.00 depending on which Horry County newspaper publishes the notice, on the court's published fee schedule, when the estate is opened within one year of death. |
| Real-property paperwork | A deed of distribution is recorded at the Horry County Register of Deeds first and filed with the Probate Court second, with a time-stamped copy sent to the court for the estate record. |
| Hearing room and recording | Hearings are set for Courtroom 2A at the Horry County Government and Justice Center. The court does not provide a court reporter, but it records hearings digitally. |
| Records and copies | Copy requests use the court's Copy Request Form and the [email protected] mailbox. Plain copies may also be made at the self-service kiosk in the office. |
| County probate index | Horry County runs its own online probate index, separate from statewide court-search systems, and directs the public to use it to find case information before requesting copies. |
| Certificates | The court's fee page prices additional Certificates of Appointment after the initial five. The Certificate of Appointment is Form 141PC and should carry the court's raised seal. |
Recent updates
| Date | Update |
|---|---|
| January 2026 | The Horry County Probate Court published a revised New Estate Opening Packet for full estate administration, setting out the documents, fees, and appointment sequence for opening an estate. |
| December 2023 | The court published its current Instructions for Personal Representative, a five-page guide to what a personal representative must file after appointment, at inventory, and at closing. |
Page last reviewed: August 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely Horry County path | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse with a co-owned home | A Conway or Myrtle Beach spouse whose home was jointly owned with right of survivorship may not need a deed of distribution for that house, but may still need a Horry County estate for assets held in the decedent's sole name. The spouse sends the New Estate Opening Packet, Form 300ES, the original will if any, the certified death certificate, and the worksheet before the court schedules the opening appointment. If exempt property is claimed, use Form 435ES and S.C. Code Ann. § 62-2-401. | Sunset helps identify sole-name accounts, debts, and beneficiary assets so the spouse does not open a larger estate settlement than the assets require. |
| Out-of-state adult child with a small estate | Horry County allows an estate to be opened by mail, publishes its forms in PDF and Word, answers appointment questions at [email protected], and handles copy requests at [email protected]. If Form 420ES applies, it is the small estate affidavit under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-1201 for estates within the $45,000 limit effective May 8, 2025. | Sunset helps the child find accounts, prepare a clean asset list, and generate the estate settlement packet before mailing documents to Conway. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate when a home must be sold | A sale of estate real property can require a formal filing, including Form 430ES, a summons, the $150.00 formal charge under S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-770, service on interested persons, and a hearing requested on Horry County's Request for Hearing form. If property is transferred by deed of distribution instead, Horry County instructs the personal representative to record the deed with the Horry County Register of Deeds first, then send a time-stamped copy to the Probate Court. | Sunset organizes the real estate, mortgage, lien, and heir information and can connect the family with a South Carolina probate attorney when a sale or formal hearing is involved. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | How it helps |
|---|---|
| Horry County Probate Court | The court publishes the New Estate Opening Packet, Will File Only Packet, personal representative instructions, Form 300ES instructions, Form 306ES instructions, the Probate Court Worksheet, the full estate form set, and local records and hearing forms. Court staff can provide forms and check papers for completeness, but cannot provide legal advice. |
| Horry County public probate index | The county's online probate index lets you search probate cases by case number, case type, party name, and other case fields. Use it to find the case number before requesting copies. |
| Records and copy requests | Use the Horry County Copy Request Form and email it to [email protected]. The court provides the total cost, accepts payment by check or money order, and asks for three business days after payment is received. |
| South Carolina Judicial Branch probate forms | The statewide Probate Court forms page publishes the numbered estate forms used across South Carolina, including mandatory inventory, accounting, and creditor-claim forms. |
| South Carolina Bar Lawyer Referral Service | Call (803) 799-7100 from 9:00 a.m. to noon or 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, or use the online referral service. Participating lawyers charge no more than $50.00 for a thirty-minute consultation, and the Bar states that the lawyers do not take pro bono cases through that service. |
| SC Free Legal Answers and the Access to Justice Legal Resource Finder | These statewide resources can help eligible users look for civil legal information and limited legal guidance. South Carolina Legal Services offers an online intake form to determine eligibility, but this page does not assume it handles decedent estate administration. |
When to hire an attorney
Consider a South Carolina probate attorney if the will is contested, heirs disagree, a home must be sold, a formal petition is required, minors inherit, creditor claims exceed available assets, or the personal representative is outside South Carolina and cannot manage hearings or deed work alone. Horry County's own estate packet says the Probate Court cannot provide legal advice and strongly encourages families to seek advice from a licensed South Carolina attorney on legal issues related to estate administration. Sunset connects families with a vetted probate attorney.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset helps families discover bank, investment, retirement, insurance, and other accounts so the Horry County opening packet starts with a clearer estate settlement inventory.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset organizes the information needed for the Horry County Probate Court forms, including family details, asset lists, debts, real estate, and documents to gather before the court reviews the packet.
Find a local probate attorney. When a Horry County estate involves a home sale, a formal hearing, a dispute, creditor problems, or a personal representative who lives far away, Sunset can connect the family with a vetted South Carolina probate attorney.
Sunset is free for families. Families can use Sunset to understand the estate settlement path, gather documents, and move from asset discovery to a ready probate plan without paying Sunset.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file probate for someone who lived in Horry County?
File with the Horry County Probate Court at the Horry County Government and Justice Center, 1301 Second Avenue, Conway, SC 29526. That is the courthouse for Horry County estates, including decedents who lived in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Aynor, Loris, Little River, Green Sea, or Conway. Venue is tied to the county where the decedent was domiciled at death under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-201.
Do I need an appointment to open an estate in Horry County?
Yes, if you are opening the estate in person. Horry County requires the paperwork first: complete the New Estate Opening Packet, return it with required documents and fees, and the court reviews it before calling within seventy-two hours to schedule the appointment.
Can I open a Horry County estate by mail?
Yes. The Horry County Probate Court publishes mail as an alternative to an in-person appointment. If you want clocked copies returned, include copies of the documents and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Can I file a Horry County probate estate online?
Horry County's probate pages publish paper filing by mail or by in-person appointment, not an online estate filing channel. South Carolina's statewide E-Filing system is for the Court of Common Pleas and registered South Carolina attorneys, not self-represented probate filings.
How do I look up a Horry County probate case?
Use the Horry County public probate index linked from the Probate Court website as Public Inquiry. The court's Copy Request Form directs the public to search that index for case information before requesting copies.
What does it cost to open probate in Horry County?
The Horry County packet states that the initial amount paid with a new estate opening is $25.00 under S.C. Code Ann. § 8-21-770. If the estate is opened within one year of death, the court also collects a notice-to-creditors newspaper advertising charge of $30.00 to $55.00 depending on which Horry County newspaper publishes the notice, on the court's published fee schedule. Additional estate-value fees are adjusted from the inventory under § 8-21-770.
Does Horry County have local probate forms?
Yes. Horry County publishes its own New Estate Opening Packet, Will File Only Packet, personal representative instructions, Probate Court Worksheet, Affidavit of Personal Representative, Copy Request Form, Request for Hearing, and Order for Mediation, along with county-hosted copies of the statewide estate forms.
Can I participate remotely in a Horry County probate hearing?
South Carolina has one statewide rule and it puts the decision with the probate judge. Under the Supreme Court order on Remote Communication Technology, as amended February 19, 2025, a probate judge may permit or require a non-criminal proceeding to be conducted by remote communication technology on a party's motion or on the judge's own initiative unless it would likely cause substantial prejudice or affect fairness. Horry County's Request for Hearing form includes a virtual-hearing request, and the court decides in advance.
Do I have to travel to Conway?
Not always. Horry County publishes mail as an option for opening an estate, and records requests can be emailed to [email protected]. If an in-person opening appointment or hearing is required, the published courthouse location is in Conway, and hearings are set for Courtroom 2A.
How long does a Horry County estate take?
Horry County's instruction sheet puts closing at eight to twelve months after publication, with creditor timing governed by S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-801. The inventory is due within ninety days after appointment under S.C. Code Ann. § 62-3-706.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.