Please be aware that under no circumstances do members of the Probate Court staff ever visit in anyone's home for any reason. All of the business of the Court is conducted in the Probate Court Office.

Estate records are public records by law. Therefore, anyone has the right to research our files to learn who has died and what probate assets they owned at death and who will be inheriting. Most of the time this is done for legitimate reasons. However, unfortunately, the information may also be used by those having ulterior motives.

There have been recent reports that individuals are calling upon citizens who are probating estates under the guise of being from the Probate Court. This had occurred in both Greenville and Spartanburg Counties. Often times, this claim gains them entry into the citizen's home or onto the premises in order to convince the homeowner to invest in their company, sell them estate assets, etc. These individuals are misrepresenting themselves as public officials in order to prey upon the unsuspecting or vulnerable in our community.

If this should happen to you or anyone you know, it should be reported immediately to the Probate Court @ 864-467-7175 or to the Greenville County Sheriff's office @ 864-467-5240.

Thank you.

Debora Faulkner

Greenville County Probate Judge

July 29, 2005

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(Pursuant to Financial Identify Fraud and Identify Theft Protection Act - Section 30-2-330)

Any person presenting documents for filing in the official Probate Court public records may not include the following information in said document unless expressly required by law:

* social security number

* driver's license number

* state identification number

* passport number

* checking account number

* savings account number

* credit card number

* debit card number

* PIN code information

* passwords

An individual has a right to request in writing that the Clerk of the Probate Court remove said information from any paper document, imaged document, or microfilmed document placed in the public records of the Probate Court. The request must specify the identification page number that contains the specific information that is requested to be redacted. Redaction will be done at no fee.

Debora A. Faulkner
Probate Judge for Greenville County
Greenville, South Carolina

July 1, 2008