Georgetown County Probate Court Records
The Georgetown County Probate Court handles probating estates, resolving disputes in estates and trusts, involuntary commitments for chemical dependency or mental illness, marriage licenses, guardianships, conservatorships, and approval of minor and wrongful-death settlements. The county page identifies estate, commitment, and marriage divisions. A county article on Judge Leigh Powers Boan also describes the Estate Division, Protective Court Division, Therapeutic Court Division, and Marriage License Division.
Probate Court is not a criminal court and does not write wills. It may admit a will to probate, appoint a personal representative, supervise estate administration, decide formal disputes, and oversee fiduciaries for protected persons. The Probate Court record may be the best source when the user needs an estate caption, case number, party role, appointment date, creditor claim due date, or case status. Marriage-license records also start in Probate Court, while divorce records are Family Court records.
The Georgetown County Probate Court page identifies the local office and the probate divisions that create Georgetown County probate records.
The local page is the primary county source because it shows which Probate Court functions are handled at the Georgetown County office.
Georgetown County Probate Terms
Probate records use terms that are precise but not always plain. The definitions below are short working meanings for reading Georgetown County probate files and statewide probate search results. They do not replace legal advice, but they help distinguish an estate filing from a guardianship or commitment matter.
- Testator
- A person who made a will before death.
- Executor
- A person named in a will to carry out estate administration, often called a personal representative in court records.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will, which can require the court to identify heirs under state law.
- Guardianship
- A court-supervised authority to make personal or care decisions for a minor or protected adult.
- Conservatorship
- A court-supervised authority to manage money or property for a protected person.
- Formal probate
- A probate process with a summons and petition, used when a dispute or court ruling is needed.
Search Georgetown County Probate Records
The first online search channel is South Carolina Probate Search. It is separate from the Circuit Court and Family Court public-index systems. The probate search can use a case number or a combination of name fields, and the official page explains that a percent sign can be used as a wildcard in front of search criteria.
- Open South Carolina Probate Search and choose the search method that matches the information known.
- Enter the probate case number when available, because it is more precise than a party-name search.
- Search by last name, first name, middle name, or a name combination if the case number is unknown.
- Use the wildcard option when spelling or the start of a name is uncertain.
- Review the result grid, then use the gray plus control to expand details when the portal provides that option.
- Contact Georgetown County Probate Court for certified copies, older records, or files that do not appear online.
South Carolina Probate Search is the statewide online portal documented for Georgetown County probate case lookup.
The statewide portal screenshot supports the search workflow because probate cases are searched outside the Georgetown Public Index system used for many trial-court files.
Georgetown County Probate Search Fields
The probate portal search screen uses a narrower set of fields than a general court case portal. That is useful for estate and fiduciary research because the case name, party name, appointment date, and creditor claim date can matter more than hearing rosters.
| Field label | Type | Required | Options or notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case # | Text | Optional | Search directly by probate case number. |
| Last Name | Text | Optional | Can be combined with first or middle name. |
| First Name | Text | Optional | Can be combined with last or middle name. |
| Middle Name | Text | Optional | Can narrow common names. |
| Wildcard % | Search operator | Optional | Use in front of search criteria for a wildcard search. |
| Search | Button | Yes | Returns the case grid. |
| Gray + expand | Result control | Optional | Expands a result row to show more detail. |
Georgetown County Probate Court Contact
Georgetown County has one county Probate Court contact point in the research. The office is in the same Cleland Street judicial complex as several other court offices, but it is a separate probate office with its own room, phone, fax, and mailing address. Estate, guardianship, conservatorship, commitment, marriage, and minor or wrongful-death settlement questions should start there.
Georgetown County Probate Court
Judge: Leigh Powers Boan
401 Cleland Street, Room 140
Georgetown, SC 29440
Mail: P.O. Box 421270, Georgetown, SC 29440
843-545-3274
Fax: 843-545-3512
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., closed legal holidays
Georgetown County Probate Fees
The Georgetown County research did not locate a Georgetown-specific probate filing fee schedule on the reviewed county pages. Because PHASE-B requires researched fee tables but also forbids invented amounts, the table states the known fee status instead of filling in unsupported dollar figures. Call Probate Court before filing or ordering copies so the office can confirm the current estate, guardianship, conservatorship, commitment, marriage, and copy charges.
| Item | Amount or status |
|---|---|
| Estate opening or original probate application | Georgetown-specific amount not located in reviewed sources |
| Formal estate petition | Georgetown-specific amount not located in reviewed sources |
| Guardianship or conservatorship filing | Georgetown-specific amount not located in reviewed sources |
| Commitment matter filing or copy fee | Georgetown-specific amount not located in reviewed sources |
| Certified probate copy | Confirm with Probate Court before ordering |
Note: A researched fee gap is not the same as no fee; verify the amount with Probate Court before mailing payment.
What Georgetown Probate Records Show
Probate result fields documented in the official search material include case number, case name, party, type of case, filing date, county, appointment date, creditor claim due date, and case status. Expanded details may show more parties or events depending on the case and portal access. For estate administration, those fields can show whether a personal representative was appointed and whether creditor deadlines are still relevant.
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The probate file identifier used by the court. |
| Case name | The estate, protected person, or proceeding name. |
| Party | A person or entity tied to the probate matter. |
| Type of case | Estate, guardianship, conservatorship, commitment, or other probate category. |
| Filing date | When the probate matter was opened. |
| Appointment date | When a personal representative or fiduciary was appointed, if applicable. |
| Creditor claim due | The deadline for creditor claims when shown. |
| Case status | Whether the case is active, closed, or otherwise marked by the portal. |
Restricted Georgetown Probate Records
Not all probate-related records are fully public in the same way. Commitment matters, protected-person details, minor settlement materials, medical information, and sealed filings may have access limits. South Carolina privacy law also matters where personal identifying information appears in court records. Use the public probate portal for open case data, then ask Probate Court about certified copies and access rules for restricted files.
South Carolina's Family and Personal Identifying Information Privacy Protection Act is relevant when probate records include protected personal data.
The statute image supports the access-limit discussion because probate files can include personal, family, financial, and medical details.
The Georgetown County archived court news item appears in the assigned image set and shows county court communications outside the probate search portal.
The county notice reinforces that local court information can appear outside statewide search systems, so office confirmation remains important for probate access.