Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: South Carolina’s statute prints a $50,000-per-owner exemption ($100,000 combined for a household with multiple owners, such as a married couple, each capped at their fractional share), but section 15-41-30(B) requires that figure to be adjusted for inflation every even-numbered year. The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office’s February 3, 2026 memorandum on the bankruptcy exemption inflation adjustment lists the figure in force from July 1, 2026 at $80,125 per owner and $160,250 combined, replacing the $76,125 and $152,250 figures set from July 1, 2024. A surviving spouse can also claim up to the per-owner amount for an interest inherited from a deceased spouse.
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The statute’s own printed number is not the current number. S.C. Code Section 15-41-30(A) still prints $50,000 (individual) / $100,000 (combined household); subsection (B) requires a Southeastern CPI adjustment every even-numbered year starting July 1, 2008. The Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office’s February 3, 2026 memorandum (a 60.2 percent cumulative change from 2006, rounded to the nearest $25) lists $80,125 (individual) / $160,250 (combined) for the adjustment effective July 1, 2026, replacing the $76,125 / $152,250 figures the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina published on June 28, 2024 for July 1, 2024. The next scheduled adjustment falls on July 1, 2028.
This is protection against an ordinary money judgment creditor under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(1)(a)-(b), CPI-adjusted under § 15-41-30(B), a different question from a property tax bill or exemption, which this page does not cover.
South Carolina homestead exemption at a glance
| Protected amount | South Carolina’s statute prints a $50,000-per-owner exemption ($100,000 combined for a household with multiple owners, such as a married couple, each capped at their fractional share), but section 15-41-30(B) requires that figure to be adjusted for inflation every even-numbered year. The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office’s February 3, 2026 memorandum on the bankruptcy exemption inflation adjustment lists the figure in force from July 1, 2026 at $80,125 per owner and $160,250 combined, replacing the $76,125 and $152,250 figures set from July 1, 2024. A surviving spouse can also claim up to the per-owner amount for an interest inherited from a deceased spouse. |
|---|---|
| Filing/declaration | Not required: The statute contains no recording requirement; the exemption is asserted directly on bankruptcy schedules or when responding to an attachment/levy. |
| Married couples / joint owners | For a jointly-owned home (including spouses), each owner’s exemption is capped at their fractional share of the combined household ceiling, effectively doubling the per-owner cap for a two-owner household. A surviving spouse can also claim up to the per-owner amount more for an interest inherited from the deceased spouse. |
How it works in South Carolina
- No filing required. The statute contains no recording requirement; the exemption is asserted directly on bankruptcy schedules or when responding to an attachment/levy.
- Married couples and joint owners: For a jointly-owned home (including spouses), each owner’s exemption is capped at their fractional share of the combined household ceiling, effectively doubling the per-owner cap for a two-owner household. A surviving spouse can also claim up to the per-owner amount more for an interest inherited from the deceased spouse.
Read it yourself
Verbatim from S.C. Code Ann. § 15-41-30(A)(1)(a)-(b), CPI-adjusted under § 15-41-30(B): “The debtor’s aggregate interest, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars in value, in real property or personal property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, in a cooperative that owns property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor, except that the aggregate value of multiple homestead exemptions allowable with respect to a single living unit may not exceed one hundred thousand dollars.” Read the full official text before relying on any figure here. A second citation, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina’s official CPI-adjustment notice (June 28, 2024), publishing the July 1, 2024 escalated homestead figures under Section 15-41-30(B), since superseded by the July 1, 2026 adjustment described above, is available here. Exemption law is fact-specific, and this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.
Figures verified against the South Carolina Code of Laws § 15-41-30 (scstatehouse.gov), the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office’s February 3, 2026 bankruptcy exemption inflation memorandum, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina’s June 28, 2024 notice on September 30, 2026; State Register publication of the 2026 table was not re-checked.