Williamsburg County Deeds and Property Records
Williamsburg County property records are held by the Clerk of Court in Kingstree, the county seat. The Clerk's office records deeds, mortgages, plats, liens, and other instruments that affect real estate in Williamsburg County. The county occupies the lower Pee Dee region of South Carolina and borders Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Florence, Clarendon, and Berkeley counties. Property owners, title researchers, lenders, and the public can access Williamsburg County property records through the Clerk of Court office in Kingstree or through statewide online tools that provide access to recorded instruments from across South Carolina.
Williamsburg County Quick Facts
Williamsburg County Clerk of Court
The Williamsburg County Clerk of Court is the official recording office for all real property instruments in Williamsburg County. South Carolina law under S.C. Code Ann. Section 30-5-10 provides that in every county without a separate Register of Deeds, the Clerk of Court performs all recording functions. Williamsburg County is one of those counties. The Clerk records and stores instruments including deeds, mortgages, plats, liens, and other documents affecting real estate in Williamsburg County.
The Williamsburg County official website at williamsburgcounty.sc.gov provides information on county government services and departments.
The Williamsburg County Clerk of Court handles all property recording for the county from the county seat in Kingstree, South Carolina.
Instruments are accepted in the order received, assigned a reel and page number, scanned, and indexed by the names of all parties and a short property description. Under S.C. Code Ann. Section 30-5-90, recording must be completed within thirty days of the instrument being brought to the office. Original documents are returned to the submitting party after recording. The office maintains microfilm of all recorded documents as permanent records for Williamsburg County.
| Office | Williamsburg County Clerk of Court |
|---|---|
| Mailing Address | P.O. Box 330, Kingstree, SC 29556 |
| Phone | (843) 354-7702 |
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM |
| Website | williamsburgcounty.sc.gov |
Searching Williamsburg County Property Records
Williamsburg County property records can be searched in person at the Clerk of Court in Kingstree. Staff can look up instruments by grantor or grantee name and provide copies of recorded documents. Bring the names of the parties involved and an approximate time period for the transaction. Copy fees apply based on the number of pages. For certified copies, confirm the fee schedule with the office before your visit.
Online access to Williamsburg County deed and mortgage records is available through the SC Land Records portal at sclandrecords.com. The portal provides a statewide index searchable by grantor and grantee name. Results include a brief legal description and a book and page reference pointing to the document location in the Clerk's records. The portal is useful for remote research and for confirming whether a document exists before making the trip to Kingstree.
The SC Land Records portal at sclandrecords.com offers a quick way to look up current ownership and parcel data for Williamsburg County properties. Use this tool for preliminary research before a formal title search at the Clerk of Court.
Note: Online indexes for Williamsburg County may not include every recorded instrument, particularly for older documents that predate the statewide digitization effort. Always confirm critical findings with the Clerk's office in Kingstree.
Types of Documents Recorded in Williamsburg County
The Williamsburg County Clerk of Court records all instruments affecting title to real property within the county. Standard conveyance documents include general warranty deeds, limited warranty deeds, and quitclaim deeds. The Clerk also records deeds of trust, mortgages, and mortgage satisfaction certificates. Each of these instruments plays a specific role in defining ownership and encumbrances on Williamsburg County real estate.
In addition to standard deed and mortgage recording, the Clerk handles plat filings showing subdivision layouts and boundary surveys, easement grants, right-of-way dedications, condominium and homeowner association declarations, mechanic's and materialman's liens, judgment liens, lis pendens notices, and UCC fixture filings tied to real property. Recording these instruments creates a public record that protects the interest of the recording party against subsequent claimants who did not have actual or constructive notice of the prior interest.
Under S.C. Code Ann. Section 30-5-35, every deed and mortgage executed in South Carolina after July 1, 1976, must include a derivation clause in the property description and the mailing address of the grantee or mortgagee on the face of the document. Documents that lack these required elements may be rejected. Before submitting instruments for recording at the Williamsburg County Clerk of Court, confirm that all required content and formatting requirements have been met.
Recording Fees and Requirements in Williamsburg County
Williamsburg County charges $15 for the first page and $2 for each additional page of any recorded instrument. Documents must be on 8.5 by 11-inch or 8.5 by 14-inch white paper. The first page must have a top margin of at least three inches for the recording stamp, and all remaining margins must be at least one inch. Text must be clear and legible. Documents with attachments must label each exhibit.
Real property transfers in Williamsburg County are subject to the South Carolina Deed Recording Fee in addition to the base recording fee. The fee is $1.85 for each $500 of value or fraction thereof, on any transaction of $100 or more. The fee is divided between the state ($1.30 per $500) and the county ($0.55 per $500). The Clerk collects both portions and remits the state's share monthly through the MyDORWAY portal. Transactions between certain family members, transfers to government entities, and specific conservation-related conveyances may qualify for an exemption from the deed recording fee under South Carolina law.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue provides SC Revenue Ruling 17-5, which covers the full range of transfer scenarios and their fee treatment in a question-and-answer format. This resource is valuable for attorneys, title companies, and property owners completing transactions in Williamsburg County.
The image below links to the SC Land Records portal, which provides online access to recorded instruments from Williamsburg County and across South Carolina.
The SC Land Records portal indexes recorded instruments from Williamsburg County and all 46 South Carolina recording districts in one searchable system.
The portal is updated as county recording offices index new instruments and is a convenient online alternative to in-person visits to the Clerk of Court in Kingstree.
Property Assessment in Williamsburg County
The Williamsburg County Assessor's Office values all real property within the county for ad valorem tax purposes. The Assessor maintains records that include ownership data, legal descriptions, parcel identification numbers, and assessed values. When a deed is recorded with the Clerk of Court, the Assessor updates its records to reflect the new ownership for the following tax year.
South Carolina's property assessment ratios under Title 12, Chapter 37 apply uniformly in Williamsburg County. Owner-occupied primary residences carry an assessment ratio of 4% of fair market value. Agricultural property in active use is also assessed at 4%. Commercial property, second homes, rental units, and other non-primary-residence real estate are assessed at 6% of fair market value. Industrial property assessed by the state Department of Revenue carries an effective rate of 6.5%.
Act 388, enacted in 2006, caps taxable value increases at 15% between countywide reassessments for properties that have not been sold or otherwise transferred. South Carolina requires each county to complete a full countywide reassessment every five years, with a possible one-year extension by county ordinance. When a property in Williamsburg County is sold and qualifies as an Assessable Transfer of Interest (ATI), it is placed on the tax rolls at full fair market value for the year following the transfer. Buyers should expect their first tax bill to reflect the purchase price of the property rather than any capped value carried over from the prior owner.
Note: Williamsburg County is one of South Carolina's more rural counties, and a significant portion of the land base is timberland and agricultural land. Agricultural assessment qualifications are subject to review by the Assessor and may require annual certification in some cases.
Historical Property Records in Williamsburg County
Williamsburg County was established in 1785 and named for William of Orange, the Dutch prince who became King of England. The county's history extends to the colonial period when Scots-Irish and other settlers received land grants in the Black River region that became Williamsburg County. Older property records for lands in this region are held at the Clerk of Court and at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in Columbia.
The South Carolina Department of Archives and History holds Colonial Plat Books from 1731 to 1775 and State Plat Books from 1784 to 1868 that document original grants for the region. For research on properties with chains of title stretching back to the colonial or early statehood period, the Archives is the starting point. Researchers can contact the Archives office in Columbia to request access to historical collections relevant to Williamsburg County land ownership. The department also holds microfilm of many county deed books from the nineteenth century that may not yet be digitized in the statewide online system.
Statewide Tools for Williamsburg County Research
Several statewide resources supplement the Clerk of Court office for researching Williamsburg County property records. The SC Land Records portal is the primary online tool for deed and mortgage records. Use it for name-based searches before visiting the office in Kingstree.
The South Carolina Judicial Branch at sccourts.org maintains court records that intersect with property records in Williamsburg County. Foreclosure proceedings before the Master-in-Equity court, judgment liens from civil cases, and estate matters involving real property all generate court records that should be checked alongside the Clerk's deed index when conducting a thorough title search. Searching both systems together gives the most complete picture of the state of title for any Williamsburg County parcel.
The South Carolina Association of Counties at scac.org offers guidance on county government operations and property records management. The association serves all 46 South Carolina counties, including Williamsburg, and provides resources that help the public understand how county recording systems work.
Nearby Counties
Williamsburg County borders six other South Carolina counties in the lower Pee Dee and Coastal Plain regions. Each county operates its own recording office. Confirm the county of a parcel before requesting records.