Marlboro County Probate Court Contact
Marlboro County Probate Court is the local probate venue. The county directory, staff directory, and South Carolina Judicial Branch list Reneka McCoy as Probate Judge. The office handles marriage licenses, estates of deceased persons, wills, estates of minors or incapacitated persons, trusts, and involuntary commitments. The county also says people interested in opening an estate should call the office for an appointment, which is important because estate filings often require original documents and case-specific forms.
Marlboro County Probate Court
Judge: Reneka McCoy
P.O. Box 455
Bennettsville, SC 29512-0455
843-479-5610
Fax: 843-479-5668
R.McCoy@marlborocounty.sc.gov
Probate Court Staff
Deputy Judge: Patricia Bundy
PMBundy@marlborocounty.sc.gov
Administrative Assistant: Aniyah Washington
AWashington@marlborocounty.sc.gov
843-479-5610
The Fourth Circuit Solicitor biography and role page is not a probate filing path, but it helps distinguish prosecutor-controlled criminal matters from Marlboro County Probate Court matters.
This distinction keeps estate and guardianship questions from being routed to a criminal prosecution office.
Marlboro County Probate Records Covered
South Carolina Probate Court is a county court with an elected probate judge. Statewide court materials describe Probate Court jurisdiction as marriage licenses, estates of deceased persons, guardianships of incompetents, conservatorships for minors and incapacitated persons, minor settlements under $25,000, involuntary commitments, exclusive jurisdiction over trusts, and concurrent jurisdiction with Circuit Court over powers of attorney. Marlboro County's own directory tracks the same broad set of local duties.
Those categories do not all have the same public access. Estate case indexes, party names, filing dates, appointment dates, creditor claim due dates, and case status may be visible in the probate portal. Mental-health commitment material, some guardianship details, sealed matters, and sensitive personal information may be closed or limited. If the online search proves a case exists but does not show the document needed, the next step is a direct request to Probate Court with the case number, case name, document requested, and copy type.
- Testator
- The person who made a will.
- Executor
- The person named to carry out a will after death.
- Intestate
- A death without a valid will controlling the estate.
- Guardianship
- A court case about personal care or legal decision authority for another person.
- Conservatorship
- A court case about managing property or finances for a protected person.
- Fiduciary
- A person with legal duties to act for an estate, trust, or protected person.
Search Marlboro County Probate Records
Marlboro County links users to South Carolina Probate Search for public probate case information. Select Marlboro in the county dropdown, then search by case number or by party name. The portal instructions allow search criteria by case number or any combination of last name, first name, and middle name. A percent sign can be placed before search criteria for a wildcard search. Results can be expanded with the gray plus symbol to view more detail.
| Field label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select County | Dropdown | Yes | Choose Marlboro from the county list. |
| Include Surrounding Counties? | Checkbox | No | Broadens the search beyond the selected county. |
| Case# | Text | No | Use when the probate case number is known. |
| Last or Business Name | Text | No | Search party, decedent, or business name. |
| First | Text | No | Narrows a name search. |
| Middle | Text | No | Narrows a name search further. |
| Do Search | Button | n/a | Runs the probate search. |
| Clear Search | Button | n/a | Clears criteria. |
Probate Search results can show Case Number, Case Name, Party, Type of Case, Filing Date, County, Appointment Date, Creditor Claim Due, and Case Status. Icon Software support is listed as 800-428-4855 for portal support, but legal and copy questions still belong with Marlboro Probate Court.
Open a Marlboro County Probate File
Opening an estate or related probate matter is not just a search task. The county tells users to call Probate Court for an appointment for estate-opening questions. That appointment helps staff tell the requester what documents, forms, names, addresses, and asset details will be needed for the specific matter.
- Identify the matter type: estate, will, guardianship, conservatorship, trust, minor settlement, marriage license, or commitment.
- Search South Carolina Probate Search by case number or party name to see whether a public case already exists.
- Call Marlboro Probate Court before opening an estate or submitting procedural questions.
- Gather the death certificate, original will if any, names and addresses of heirs or devisees, asset information, and identification.
- Use Probate Court instructions and SC Judicial Branch probate forms where the office directs.
- For copies, provide the case number, case name, document requested, and whether certification is needed.
Note: Do not expect involuntary commitment or restricted guardianship details to be available through a public online search.
Marlboro County Probate Fee Schedule
The probate fee schedule comes from South Carolina Code sections cited in the research, while the Marlboro marriage-license amount comes from the county page. Marlboro-specific payment methods beyond the marriage-license cash requirement were not located, so call Probate Court before mailing payment for an estate, copy, or filing.
| Probate item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Estate or conservatorship valuation under $5,000 | $25 |
| $5,000 to $19,999.99 valuation | $45 |
| $20,000 to $59,999.99 valuation | $67.50 |
| $60,000 to $99,999.99 valuation | $95 |
| $100,000 to $599,999.99 valuation | $95 plus .15% of value between $100,000 and $600,000 |
| $600,000+ valuation | Prior amount plus .25% over $600,000 |
| Certified probate copy | $5 |
| Exemplified or authenticated probate copy | $20 |
| Marriage-record correction | $6.75 |
| Demand for notice | $5 |
| Conservatorship accounting | $10 |
| Reopening closed estate | $22.50 |
| Filing or indexing will | $10 |
| Marriage license | $65 cash |
| Probate search portal | Free public search |
Restricted Marlboro County Probate Records
Probate records can be public in part and restricted in part. Estate docket information may be public, but mental-health commitment records are sensitive. Guardianship and conservatorship files may include medical, financial, or protected personal details. Sealed records and protected identifiers are also limited by court rules and privacy statutes. South Carolina Rule 41.1 addresses sealing court records when no other rule, statute, or order controls. Rule 41.2 places responsibility on filers to redact personal identifying information.
The South Carolina rule for sealing court records is relevant when a probate or related civil file is not open to ordinary public inspection.
Sealing means the record may still exist, but public access is blocked or limited by court authority.
The South Carolina redaction rule explains why sensitive identifiers should not appear in public probate filings.
Redaction rules help explain why a visible probate index may omit Social Security numbers, financial account data, and other identifiers.
Marlboro Probate and Court Limits
Some records that look probate-adjacent are handled by other parts of the court system. Juvenile matters and adoption records are Family Court matters with strong confidentiality rules. Adult criminal expungement questions are routed through the solicitor under state law, not through Probate Court. These distinctions matter because the correct office depends on the case type, not just the fact that the record concerns a family member.
The SC Judicial Branch juvenile expungement page is relevant when a record involves juvenile confidentiality rather than a public Marlboro Probate Court estate file.
Juvenile confidentiality is a separate access limit from ordinary estate-record access.
The SC summary-court expungement process belongs to eligible criminal or summary-court matters, not estate probate work.
That source helps separate public probate searches from criminal-record cleanup procedures.
The Fourth Circuit Solicitor expungement page serves Marlboro County criminal expungement applicants.
Expungement sources are useful only when the record is a criminal or juvenile matter, not a Probate Court estate file.