Updated August 4, 2026. Quick answer for South Carolina: nobody publishes a reliable, state-specific median for what a will costs here, and the figures you will see quoted — including ours — are national. Anyone showing you a precise South Carolina number is estimating. What is genuinely South Carolina-specific, and what actually decides whether your will works, is how it has to be executed. The detail worth knowing before you sign anything: what is genuinely South Carolina-specific is how a will has to be executed, and that is what decides whether the document works at all.
The honest position on South Carolina pricing
We publish a national attorney median for a simple will of $625 (middle 50% $450–$1,000) and a DIY platform range of $129–$599. Attorney figures are the national medians from the LegalTemplates 2026 survey of 909 firms, verified July 23, 2026. They are national, not state-specific. Geographic multipliers are widely republished, but the primary source for them blocks automated verification, so we will not apply one to South Carolina and present the result as a South Carolina figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What South Carolina law actually requires
This is the part that is genuinely state-specific, and the part that decides whether the document works at all. Every line below is read from the statute, with the citation attached:
- Witnesses: 2. S.C. Code Ann. § 62-2-502
- If a beneficiary witnesses it: the gift to that witness is void or cut back, but the will still stands (purging statute). S.C. Code Ann. § 62-2-504(a)
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. S.C. Code Ann. § 62-2-502
- Self-proving affidavit: not provided for. Your executor may have to locate the witnesses at probate. S.C. Code Ann. § 62-2-503
- Handwritten (holographic) wills: not recognised. S.C. Code Ann. § 62-2-502
- Electronic wills: not recognised. No electronic-will provision in tit. 62 art. 2
The full 44-jurisdiction comparison is on what each state requires for a will to be valid. Whether a beneficiary may witness is covered nationally on can a beneficiary witness a will, and the notary question on does a will need to be notarised.
Does South Carolina give you a free form?
No. Only four states we can verify publish a complete statutory will form in their own code: California, Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin. In South Carolina your realistic routes are a DIY platform, a flat-fee attorney will, or an hourly engagement if the estate is complicated. New Mexico is often listed as a fifth statutory-form state; we could not reach its official code to confirm it, so we leave it out rather than repeat it.
What skipping it costs in South Carolina
South Carolina sets probate compensation on a mixed basis rather than a single percentage schedule. The two numbers that decide what an estate actually pays are the fee basis and the small-estate threshold.
Fee basis: Personal representative commission is statutory (S.C. Code §62-3-719): not to exceed 5% of appraised personal property plus sale proceeds of real property sold by will/court order; minimum $50; plus up to 5% of estate income. Attorney fees are reasonable. Verified via statute mirrors.
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by South Carolina’s intestacy statute instead of by you, and it lets you name the executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. The arithmetic on the other side is on what probate costs in South Carolina.
If a DIY will is the right route for you in South Carolina
Where the estate is straightforward and none of the complications above apply, a properly executed DIY will does the job, and how it is signed matters far more than where the document came from. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament, which you then sign and witness under the South Carolina rules above.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link — it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
What a will costs nationally — every route priced, and the four situations where DIY fails.
Statutory text read at the state’s own legislature or official code site. Pricing figures are national and dated above. General information, not legal advice.