By Maria T. Albanese, JD, LL.M, Checkpoint News
South Carolina has enacted the “Heirs’ Property Tax Relief Act”, which creates a new exclusion for the heirs of real property from an “assessable transfer of interest” (ATI), which subjects the property to an appraisal and possible increase in valuation. (L. 2026, H4477 (Act 149), effective 05/17/2026, and applicable for tax years beginning after 2025.)
Qualifying property
The new law excludes transfers of “heirs’ property” made to a “qualified family member” for the purpose of clearing the title. To qualify: (1) the property must be “heirs’ property,” which means real property owned by one or more individuals as tenants in common, which was inherited from a relative and for which no formal probate or recorded conveyance transferred clear title to the current owners; (2) the transfer must be to a “qualified family member,” which means a person related to the prior owner by blood, marriage, or adoption including, but not limited to a spouse, child, grandchild, sibling, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, cousin, or those identified as heir owners by a court of competent jurisdiction; and (3) both the person transferring the interest (grantor) and the person receiving it (grantee) must have had an ownership interest in the property before the transfer.
Submission to county assessor and title clearing
The family members must submit an affidavit to the county assessor certifying the conditions are met. The exclusion also applies to parcels created by partitioning the heirs’ property. Once the title is formally cleared, the property is no longer considered “heirs’ property,” and this specific exclusion will not apply to any subsequent transfers.
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