Greenville County Probate Court
Greenville County Probate Court is a separate elected Probate Judge office, not a division of the Clerk of Court. The court is located at Greenville County Square, 301 University Ridge, Suite N-T100, Greenville, SC 29601. Judge Chadwicke L. Groover is the Probate Judge. The main Probate Court phone is 864.467.7170. Probate Court generally lists Monday through Friday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The court handles estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, marriage licenses, records and research, mediation, creditors' claims, protective proceedings, and involuntary commitments. Most public-facing Probate Court divisions are in Suite N-T100, while Mental Health is in Suite N-T200. Probate records can involve personal property, real estate interests, family relationships, medical restrictions, or minor and vulnerable-adult issues, so public access changes by record type.
Probate Court also publishes separate division contacts that matter for record routing. The Estate Division is reached at 864.467.7497. Marriage License contacts include 864.467.7171, 864.467.7571, and 864.467.7468. Protective Proceedings is listed at 864.467.7404, Records Division at 864.467.7684, and Involuntary Commitment at 864.467.7085. Those division lines help avoid sending an estate copy request to the marriage desk or a mental-health release question to a public search channel.
The Greenville County Probate Court location page identifies the County Square office and suite layout.
That office location matters because Greenville County Probate Court is not housed at the downtown Circuit Court building used for Clerk of Court records.
Greenville County Probate Court
Judge: Chadwicke L. Groover
301 University Ridge, Suite N-T100
Greenville, SC 29601
864.467.7170
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Probate Records and Research
301 University Ridge, Suite N-T100
Greenville, SC 29601
864.467.7684
Use for Probate Court copy and research questions.
Greenville Probate Terms
Probate filings use short legal terms that show who died, who may act for the estate, and whether the court is supervising property for an adult or minor. These definitions help identify which Greenville County probate records to request.
- Testator
- The person who made a will before death.
- Executor
- The person named in a will to carry out estate tasks after appointment.
- Intestate
- A death without a valid will, so estate authority is based on South Carolina law and court appointment.
- Guardianship
- A court-supervised role for personal care decisions for a minor or protected adult.
- Conservatorship
- A court-supervised role for managing money or property for a protected person.
Greenville County Estate Venue
An estate belongs in Greenville County Probate Court when the decedent was a permanent Greenville County resident, when a nonresident owned property in Greenville County, or when the estate has the right to commence legal proceedings in Greenville County. That venue rule is the first screening point before a will, small estate affidavit, or estate-opening request is filed.
If there is a will, the original will and a certified death certificate are part of the start-up materials. If there is no will but there is property, the death certificate starts the process. If there is no will and no property, the research notes that no action is required. Informal probate admits a will without the same type of hearing used for formal probate. Formal probate requires a hearing.
The venue rule also affects copies. A person may have died in another county while owning Greenville County property, or may have lived in Greenville County while family members search from elsewhere. Probate Court's file location depends on the decedent's residence, property, and estate rights, not just where a family member now lives. That is why estate searches should begin with venue before assuming no probate record exists.
The Greenville County Probate estate FAQ is the county source for estate venue, will filing, and small estate rules.
The FAQ is useful for Greenville County probate records because it separates will filing, estate opening, and small-estate options before a requester asks for copies.
Search Greenville Probate Records
Greenville County Probate Court advertises public access to court case information and links to a Probate Search Page, Estate, Marriage Licenses, Historical Records, and Attorney Case Management. Detailed search fields were not fully exposed in accessible text during the research pass, so the safer approach is to treat the online search as one channel and keep the Records and Research Division as the fallback for older, incomplete, or sensitive records.
- Confirm that the matter belongs in Greenville County by residence, property, or estate legal action.
- Use the Probate Court public access link from the official Probate Court page when looking for public case information.
- Search by the available estate, party, or case information shown by the Probate Court system.
- Contact Probate Records and Research at 864.467.7684 if the online result is incomplete, older, or not available online.
- For mental-health or involuntary-commitment records, use the Involuntary Commitment channel instead of a public search.
Note: A missing online probate result does not prove that no Greenville County estate or protected-person file exists.
Greenville Probate Fee Schedule
Greenville County Probate Court's researched fee schedule is effective April 1, 2024. Estate and conservatorship filing fees scale with value, while small estates under the statutory threshold have their own lower schedule. Copy and certified-copy fees are separate from opening fees.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Estate or conservatorship $0-$4,999.99 | $25 |
| $5,000-$19,999.99 | $45 |
| $20,000-$59,999.99 | $67.50 |
| $60,000-$99,999.99 | $95 |
| $100,000-$599,999.99 | $95 plus .15% over $100,000 |
| $600,000 or more | $845 plus 1/4 of 1% over $600,000 |
| Small estate $0-$99.99 | $17.50 |
| Small estate $100-$4,999.99 | $30 |
| Small estate $5,000-$19,999.99 | $50 |
| Small estate $20,000-$25,000 | $72.50 |
| Notice to Creditors ad | $46 |
| Will ad | $10 |
| Filing or indexing will | $10 |
| Formal action | $150 |
| Copies | $0.50 per page |
| Certified copies | $5 plus copy or research charges |
Small Estate Probate Records
A Greenville County small estate affidavit applies to personal property under $25,000 and no real estate. This is not the same as a full formal estate proceeding. It can reduce the court process when the estate fits the value and property limits, but the Probate Court still controls the filing and fee schedule.
Opening details also change when a will exists. Filing the original will costs $10. A will with no property adds a $10 ad fee. A will with property over $25,000 adds the $46 Notice to Creditors, for a researched opening total of $56 based on the note in the Probate materials. No-will property matters still need a death certificate to start.
Greenville Guardianship Records
Guardianship and conservatorship matters are part of Greenville County Probate Court's work. Conservatorship focuses on money or property for a protected person, while guardianship concerns personal care and authority. Probate Court lists Protective Proceedings at 864.467.7404, and the general Probate Court page identifies conservatorship and guardianship functions at County Square.
Some protected-person records may not be as open as ordinary estate files. The requester should expect the court to screen access based on the type of case, the role of the requester, and any protective or sealing rules. When a guardianship or conservatorship case involves a minor, a vulnerable adult, or private medical facts, public copies may be limited.
Probate guardianship and conservatorship records can also overlap with accountings, inventories, medical capacity facts, family disputes, and orders appointing or limiting authority. A public case entry may identify that a case exists, while the supporting filings may need court review before release. When the record is needed for banking, property, care authority, or another legal purpose, ask Probate Court whether a certified order or letters are required instead of a plain copy.
Restricted Greenville Probate Records
Probate Court is also connected to mental health and involuntary commitment records. The researched materials identify an Involuntary Commitment Division phone number of 864.467.7085 and place Mental Health in Suite N-T200. Mental-health record release is a separate process. Individuals requesting their own records are not charged for copies, while other copy requests are charged at the per-page rates.
Adoption records are also restricted under South Carolina law. South Carolina adoption confidentiality provisions make adoption records confidential and sealed, with access generally requiring good cause and a court order. Juvenile and sealed matters can have similar access limits, so Probate Records and Research may not be able to release a file just because a name or case exists.
Probate Court's restricted-record channels should not be mixed with the ordinary estate search. Mental-health records, involuntary commitment material, adoption-related records, and protected-person files may require release forms, proof of identity, court authority, or a showing that the requester has a legal role in the case. A certified estate copy request is routine by comparison, but sensitive Probate Court records are screened before release. Call the correct Probate division before visiting.
The South Carolina adoption confidentiality law is one source for limits that may affect Greenville County Probate Court records.
Those restrictions explain why some Greenville County probate records must be requested through the court rather than treated as routine public search results.