Executor Compensation and Fees (SC)

In South Carolina, the estate executor is known as a "personal representative". In the absence of specified compensation in the will, South Carolina statute sets commissions to at most 5% of:

• Personal assets (excluding any with named beneficiaries)
• Real estate sold (as authorized by the will or the court)
• Estate income (income generated by the estate while being settled)

In practice, the percentage commission often depends on overall estate size and relative complexity. For example:

• 5.0% on the first $250K
• 4.0% on the next $750K
• 3.0% on the next $1M
• 2.0% on the next $2M
• 1.5% on the anything more

So, for example, a South Carolina estate of standard complexity with relevant assets of $300K would normally yield $14.5K in executor fees, one with $800K would generate $34.5K, and a $1.5M estate would generate $57.5K. But the law does allow up to 5% in total.

Regardless of all of the above, the minimum executor fee is $50 (unless waived).

See South Carolina Code of Laws § 62-3-719.

EstateExec provides the following executor compensation estimator for SC estates, but please keep in mind that circumstances may vary, and that there may be special situations addressed by local custom or law. By using this estimator, you acknowledge that EstateExec provides any results as informational input only, not as legal advice, and cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies for, or misunderstandings about, any given estate.

You can use this calculator now, but if you use EstateExec to help you track the settlement process, it will automatically perform the calculations to provide inputs for the fields below (you can create an estate for free).