What assets go through probate, and what assets avoid it?
Answer:
Property owned solely by the decedent without an effective beneficiary or other transfer arrangement commonly enters the probate estate. A tenancy-in-common interest may also require probate. Survivorship rights and valid beneficiary or transfer-on-death designations can produce a different result, so the actual documents must be reviewed.
Law update since the original recording — effective July 1, 2025: South Carolina added transfer-on-death provisions for qualifying titled personal property, including vehicles. A valid TOD designation may allow the property to pass outside ordinary estate administration, subject to the statutory requirements. See Section 62-6-401 and its effective-date history. A vehicle’s sole-owner title therefore must be reviewed along with any TOD designation.
Our attorney identifies several examples of property that may belong in a probate estate: a bank account held solely in the decedent’s name, a solely titled vehicle, and an interest in real estate held as a tenant in common without survivorship rights.
The key is how the property is actually titled and whether a valid transfer arrangement applies. Sole ownership should not be considered without also checking beneficiary designations and other legally effective instructions.
For context, a valid payable-on-death account designation or survivorship arrangement may transfer property outside ordinary estate administration. South Carolina also now permits qualifying transfer-on-death designations on certain titled personal property, subject to statutory and agency requirements.
A probate attorney can review accounts, titles, deeds, and beneficiary records to determine which assets belong in the estate and which may transfer by a different route.