Yes, trusts can avoid probate in South Carolina. When you create a trust and transfer your assets to it, the assets are no longer subject to probate when you pass away. This can save your beneficiaries time and money by avoiding the often lengthy and expensive probate process.
The cost of setting up a trust in South Carolina varies depending on the complexity of the trust and the attorney's fees. A basic Revocable Living Trust generally ranges from $1,000 to $3,000. More complex trusts can cost several thousand dollars more. Online services like Snug can provide a more affordable alternative to traditional legal services, offering estate planning services, including trusts, at a lower cost.
The overall cost of estate planning in South Carolina can run to $4,950.
A Revocable Living Trust is the most common type of trust people set up, offering flexibility and control over your assets during your lifetime and helping to avoid probate. Other types of trusts, such as Charitable Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, and Irrevocable Trusts, may be appropriate depending on your specific circumstances and goals.
Funding a trust in South Carolina involves transferring ownership of your assets to the trust. For real estate, a new deed must be prepared with the trust as the owner. Bank accounts should be retitled in the name of the trust, and other assets like vehicles, personal property, business interests, stocks, and bonds must also be formally transferred to the trust.
Adding a house to a trust in South Carolina can be more complex — the state has rules and regulations about it.
In South Carolina, any individual who is at least 18 years old and mentally competent can serve as a trustee. In addition to individuals, corporations, such as banks or trust companies, can also serve as a trustee, provided they are authorized to exercise trust powers in the state. Trustees should be capable of managing and taking care of property, and they must not have been convicted of serious crimes, including felonies or crimes that involve dishonesty or moral turpitude.
In South Carolina, if you want to change your living trust, you will need to create an amendment to the original trust document. This amendment must clearly outline the changes you wish to make, such as modifying beneficiaries, altering trustees, or changing distribution rules. The amendment should include the date, your name, the name of the trust, and the date the trust was originally created. Your signature is required on the amendment, and it should be signed in the presence of a notary public. If you're considering making extensive changes to your living trust, it might be more practical to create a restatement of the trust. A restatement allows you to rewrite the entire agreement while maintaining the original date and title of the trust, which can be beneficial in avoiding the need to retitle assets. Within the restatement, you can include all the modifications you wish to make, and these new terms will completely replace the previous ones.
