Richland County Probate Court Records
The Richland County Probate Court is located at 1701 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 207, Columbia, SC 29201. The main phone is 803-576-1961. Mail goes to P.O. Box 288, Columbia, SC 29201. The research notes a practical delivery rule: UPS must use the physical address because USPS will not accept UPS mailings for the Probate Court.
Probate Judge Amy W. McCulloch is listed for the court. The South Carolina Judicial Branch listing gives office phone 803-576-1984 and fax 803-576-1987. Richland County Probate Court handles estates, wills, marriage licenses, guardianships, conservatorships, commitments, and related probate filings. Estate records are public, but mental health and lunacy records are confidential. That boundary should be checked before requesting sensitive probate material.
The court's main source is the Richland County Probate Court page.
The Probate Court page anchors estate, marriage, and contact paths for Richland County probate users.
Richland County Probate Terms
Probate filings use terms that may not appear in ordinary civil court records. These definitions are short, but they help decode estate forms, party lists, and court notices before ordering copies.
- Testator
- A person who made a will.
- Executor
- A person named to carry out a will, sometimes called a personal representative after appointment.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will, which means estate distribution follows South Carolina law.
- Guardianship
- A court-supervised role tied to care or personal decision-making for a protected person.
- Conservatorship
- A court-supervised role tied to money or property management for a protected person.
Search Richland County Probate Records
Richland County estate records cover 1900 to the present, but the search channel changes by date. Records from 1900 through 1982 are on microfilm. Records from 1983 to the present are scanned and available on a public computer, and estates filed after 1983 can be searched online through Estate Inquiry. Search keys are the decedent name or estate number.
- Start with the Richland County Estate Inquiry if the estate was filed after 1983.
- Search by last name and first name, or use the estate number when known.
- Review result fields such as case number, decedent name, date of death, date opened, date closed, estate clerk email, and parties.
- Use the courthouse or copy-order path for pre-1983 estates and for files that require microfilm review.
- Confirm document-access level if images are needed, because the research notes SMS account, Limited Access, and Full Access categories.
The county's Estate Inquiry source provides the online search route for post-1983 estate records.
Estate Inquiry is useful for locating a case before deciding whether to request copies from Probate Court.
Richland County Probate Contacts
Richland County has one county Probate Court for these local probate matters. Staff contacts can help route estate, marriage, and legal questions to the right desk. The published staff list includes a Clerk of Probate, Deputy Clerk, and Judicial Law Clerk in addition to the general Probate Court number.
Richland County Probate Court
1701 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 207
Columbia, SC 29201
803-576-1961
Mail: P.O. Box 288, Columbia, SC 29201
Probate Staff Contacts
Lori Elrod, Clerk of Probate: 803-576-1984
Andrew Dearden, Deputy Clerk: 803-576-1997
Judicial Law Clerk: 803-576-1989
Marriage questions: 803-576-1963
The published Probate Contacts source identifies staff routing for estate and probate questions.
Those contacts are most useful after an estate number or decedent name has been found.
Richland County Probate Filing Fees
Probate fees depend on the estate value and service requested. The research includes estate opening tiers, small-estate tiers, copy fees, search fees, certified-copy fees, will filing, and reopening a closed estate. These fees should be matched to the filing type before mailing payment to Probate Court.
| Probate Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Regular estate $0-$4,999 | $25 |
| Regular estate $5,000-$19,999 | $45 |
| Regular estate $20,000-$59,999 | $67.50 |
| Regular estate $60,000-$99,999 | $95 |
| Regular estate $100,000-$599,999 | $95 plus 0.15% over $100,000 |
| Regular estate $600,000+ | $845 on first $600,000 plus 0.25% over $600,000 |
| Small estate $20,000-$45,000 | $72.50 |
| Copies | $0.50 per page |
| Search | $3 |
| Certified copies | $5 |
| Will filed only | $10 |
| Reopen closed estate | $22.50 |
What Richland County Probate Records Show
Estate files may include wills, petitions, inventories, accountings, creditor notices, creditor claims, deeds of distribution, verified statements to close an estate, small-estate affidavits, guardian or conservator petitions, physician affidavits, financial plans, and conservator reports. The county's forms list includes examples such as 300ES Probate Application/Petition, 306ES Filing of a Will for Record, 350ES Inventory and Appraisement, 361ES Accounting, 370ES Notice to Creditors, 371ES Creditor Claim, 400ES Deed of Distribution, and 420ES Small Estate Affidavit.
The estate copy order form captures decedent first, middle, and last name, suffix, date of death month and year, requested documents, requester name, address, phone, and email. It allows free text for requested documents, with examples such as entire file, will, deed, or accounting. Payments for copy orders are by check or money order payable to Richland County Probate Court.
For estates before 1983, the order form also matters because the research lists a $3 search fee for each file requested. That older date range is not the same as the online Estate Inquiry range, so a requester should expect the court to locate microfilm before copies can be priced and prepared.
The county's estate-record access detail appears in the Richland Probate estate records source.
That source explains why the date of the estate filing controls whether the record is online, scanned, or on microfilm.
Richland County Estate Forms
Probate forms support opening, managing, and closing estate matters. A small-estate affidavit may be available under S.C. Code §62-3-1201 when at least 30 days have passed after death, no personal representative appointment is pending or granted, successors are entitled, and the probate judge approves and countersigns the affidavit. The research notes Act No. 26 changed the threshold from $25,000 to $45,000 effective May 8, 2025.
The Probate estates source groups estate filing information for Richland County users.
Estate filing rules and copy fees should be checked before mailing documents or payment.
The Probate forms and terms source lists common Richland County probate forms.
Forms and terms help identify the exact document type before making a copy request.
Restricted Richland County Probate Records
Estate records are public in Richland County, but Probate Court states that mental health and lunacy records are confidential. Guardianship and conservatorship matters can also involve protected persons, medical details, or financial data that may not be treated like an ordinary estate packet. If a document is not available through Estate Inquiry, the better course is to contact Probate Court with the case number, decedent or protected-person name when appropriate, and the document type requested.
Note: Public estate access does not create public access to confidential mental-health, lunacy, sealed, or otherwise restricted probate material.