South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

A149, R197, H4477

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Landing, Cobb-Hunter, Rivers, Williams, Luck, King, Gilliard, Waters, Henderson-Myers, Collins, Schuessler, Herbkersman, M.M. Smith, Govan and Hart
Companion/Similar bill(s): 4071
Document Path: LC-0256DG25.docx

Introduced in the House on May 1, 2025
Introduced in the Senate on April 28, 2026
Last Amended on May 6, 2026
Currently residing in the House
Governor's Action: May 15, 2026, Signed

Summary: Heirs' property

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date Body Action Description with journal page number
5/1/2025 House Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 139)
5/1/2025 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means (House Journal-page 139)
3/26/2026 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Cobb-Hunter
3/31/2026 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Rivers, Williams, Luck, King, Gilliard, Waters, Henderson-Myers
4/1/2026 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Collins, Schuessler, Herbkersman, M.M. Smith
4/21/2026 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment Ways and Means (House Journal-page 6)
4/23/2026 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Govan, Hart
4/23/2026 House Amended (House Journal-page 33)
4/23/2026 House Read second time (House Journal-page 33)
4/23/2026 House Roll call Yeas-109 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 35)
4/23/2026 House Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative day (House Journal-page 36)
4/24/2026 House Read third time and sent to Senate (House Journal-page 3)
4/28/2026 Senate Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 9)
4/28/2026 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance (Senate Journal-page 9)
5/5/2026 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Finance (Senate Journal-page 13)
5/6/2026 Senate Committee Amendment Adopted (Senate Journal-page 116)
5/6/2026 Senate Read second time (Senate Journal-page 116)
5/6/2026 Senate Roll call Ayes-43 Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 116)
5/7/2026 Senate Read third time and returned to House with amendments (Senate Journal-page 29)
5/12/2026 House Debate adjourned (House Journal-page 108)
5/13/2026 House Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled (House Journal-page 80)
5/13/2026 House Roll call Yeas-114 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 80)
5/14/2026 Ratified R 197
5/15/2026 Signed By Governor
5/26/2026 Effective date 05/15/26
5/26/2026 Act No. 149

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

05/01/2025
04/21/2026
04/23/2026
05/05/2026
05/06/2026


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

NOTE: THIS IS A TEMPORARY VERSION. THIS DOCUMENT WILL REMAIN IN THIS VERSION UNTIL FINAL APPROVAL BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

(A149, R197, H4477)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE "HEIRS' PROPERTY TAX RELIEF ACT" BY AMENDING SECTION 12-37-3150, RELATING TO DETERMINING WHEN AN ASSESSIBLE TRANSFER OF INTEREST OCCURS, SO AS TO EXCLUDE TRANSFERS MADE TO QUALIFIED FAMILY MEMBERS TO CLEAR THE TITLE OF HEIRS' PROPERTY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Citation

SECTION 1.    This act may be cited as the "Heirs' Property Tax Relief Act."

Heirs' property

SECTION 2.    Section 12-37-3150(B) of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

(16)(a) a transfer made to a qualified family member who has legal claim to heirs' property to clear the title of the heirs' property, whereby both the grantor and grantee owned an interest in the property prior to the transfer.

(b) For purposes of this item:

(i) "Heirs' property" 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.

(ii) "Qualified family member" 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.

(c) A partition of heirs' property, whether voluntary or ordered by a court in a proceeding to clear title, does not disqualify the resulting parcels from this exclusion. Each partitioned parcel must be assessed at its proportional value.

(d) The transfer described in this item is not considered an assessable transfer of interest only if the qualified family members submit affidavits to the county assessor certifying under penalty of perjury that:

(i) the property qualifies as heirs' property;

(ii) the transfer is between qualified family members; and

(iii) the transfer is for the purpose of clearing title.

(e) Once title on the property is cleared, the property is no longer heirs' property and not eligible for the exclusion provided by this item.

Time effective

SECTION 3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to property tax years beginning after 2025.

Ratified the 14th day of May, 2026.

Approved the 15th day of May, 2026.

__________


This web page was last updated on May 26, 2026 at 3:38 PM