Columbia firm focused on tax law, estate planning, probate, trust administration, and business planning. Founding attorney Jeff Z. Brooker III has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America since 2012.
Irmo is in Richland County.
More Trust Administration Firms in Richland County
Columbia firm based in the downtown Palmetto Armory Building, serving families and businesses across the Midlands. Its tax, estate planning, and probate team handles probate, estate and trust administration, and fiduciary litigation, along with wills, trusts, and business succession planning. The team includes an ACTEC Fellow and a certified specialist in estate and probate law.
Columbia estate planning and probate practice on Devine Street serving Richland and Lexington counties. Work includes probate administration, summary administration, and trust administration for successor trustees, alongside planning for taxable and nontaxable estates. Owner Erin A. Cook is certified by the SC Supreme Court as a Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
Finkel Law Firm LLC was founded in 1970 and provides legal counsel in estate planning, probate, and more. Their Columbia probate lawyers have 50+ years of experience in probate administration and litigation cases.
Kirby Law, LLC is a boutique Estate Planning and Probate law firm serving the entire state of South Carolina. Since 2005, the principal attorney has been designated by the Supreme Court of South Carolina as a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law. Angela Kirby is both a CPA and an Attorney, and was an Associate Probate Judge for Richland County Probate Court for over five years.
Newsome Brannon & McDonald (formerly Newsome Law) is a Columbia firm serving Richland County and the Midlands. Its probate work covers informal estate administration, trust administration and decanting, estate and gift tax returns, and guardianships and conservatorships. It also represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in will contests, removal and accounting actions, and elective share claims.
Probate in Richland County
Probate Court Record
Richland County Probate Court
Richland County
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00 PM
Office
Richland County Judicial Center, 1701 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 207, Columbia, SC 29201
Website
Filing in person
Appointment required
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Richland County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Richland County? →Settling an estate in Richland County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in South Carolina
Free South Carolina forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for South Carolina.
$12/month
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Free
Pour-Over Will
In South Carolina, a pour-over will is signed before 2S.C. Code § 62-2-502Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in South Carolina
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in South Carolina: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool.
How Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in South Carolina happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust CodeS.C. Code Ann. § 62-7-101 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 90 daysS.C. Code §§ 62-7-813, 62-7-1005Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In South Carolina, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)S.C. Code Ann. § 62-7-708Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
Calculate the Fee
How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in South Carolina: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 90 daysS.C. Code §§ 62-3-706, 62-3-707, 62-3-708Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 8 monthsSC Code §§ 62-3-801, 62-3-803, 62-3-805, 62-3-806Verified Oct 19, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
South Carolina requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040S.C. Code Ann. §§ 12-6-510, 12-6-1140(15), 12-6-1170, 12-6-1171 (as amended by H.4216, Act No. 110 (R.117), 2026)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in South Carolina take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces state tax on the 56% of long-term gain left after a 44% exclusionS.C. Code Ann. § 12-6-1150 (44% net capital gain deduction)Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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