Event Information

Attorney at Law and Former Horry County Probate Judge

Deirdre W. Edmonds was born in Aiken County, South Carolina.  She attended the University of South Carolina and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984.  She attained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1987.  Deirdre was licensed to practice law in the State of South Carolina in November 1987.

Deirdre began her legal career at the law firm of Bellamy, Rutenberg, Copeland, Epps, Gravely, & Bowers, P.A. in Myrtle Beach, SC.  During her ten years with the Bellamy Law Firm, she focused primarily on estate planning, probate, corporate, tax, business, and elder law.  Deirdre practiced with the law firm of Kathryn Cook DeAngelo in Surfside Beach from 1997 until 2001, where she continued to concentrate in the areas of estate and disability planning, elder law and probate.  In November 2002, Deirdre was elected Probate Judge for Horry County, a position she served in until January 2015 when she opened her own law firm, the Law Office of Deirdre W. Edmonds, PA.

Deirdre has been licensed to practice law in SC for more than thirty-two years. She is a member of the South Carolina Bar, and a member of the Bar section on Probate, Estate Planning and Trust and also the SC Bar Elder Law Committee.  Deirdre is also a member of the Horry County Bar Association. She is a former member of the National College of Probate Judges and the S.C. Association of Probate Judges.  Deirdre is also a member of the Grand Strand Area Estate Planning Council, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Carolinas Chapter of NAELA, and the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association.  Deirdre previously served as President of the S.C. Association of Probate Judges and served on the South Carolina Probate Judges Advisory Committee at the request of the then-Chief Justice of the S.C. Supreme Court, the Hon. Jean Toal.  Deirdre was the founding judge of the Horry County Drug Court and served as the Drug Court Judge for over nine years. 

Deirdre and her husband, Waymon, have been married for over 30 years and have three daughters, twins, Jessie and Katherine, and their youngest, Aubrey.  

The Nelson Law Firm of Bluffton, LLC 

Meagan MacBean

A native of Cheraw, South Carolina, Meagan practices in the areas of trust and estate administration, wealth transfer planning, and incapacity planning. Additionally, she represents clients in estate and trust-related litigation, including fiduciary fee disputes, will contests, will and trust construction suits, valuation disputes, and contested guardianship and conservatorship actions.

Formerly a Trust Officer and Certified Trust Fiduciary Advisor, much of Meagan’s practice centers on advising individual and corporate trustees regarding trust administration, modification, decanting, and termination. Meagan serves as an adjunct instructor for Cannon Financial Institute’s Trust School, which offers training to Trust Officers and wealth management professionals in the areas of property law, tax law, trust instruments, fiduciary law and regulations, and estate planning and wealth management principles.

Meagan has written or co-written articles regarding choosing a fiduciary and the decanting and modification of existing irrevocable trusts and has also spoken on these topics. She also frequently addresses groups regarding the importance of having an estate plan.

Meagan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2013. Following graduation, she clerked for United States District Court Judge Debra M. Brown in Greenville, MS, and practiced with the firm of Glover, Young, Hammack, Walton & Simmons PLLC in Meridian, MS, where she gained experience in a wide range of litigation matters, including estate litigation. She joined Trustmark National Bank as a Trust Officer in September 2018, where she provided expertise in trust and estate issues, advising high net worth clients on estate planning, asset protection, and incapacity planning. At Trustmark, Meagan also prepared annual accountings for court-appointed trusts, drafted memos, presented client requests to various committees, interpreted trusts, and managed a diverse portfolio of trust, estate, and fiduciary investment accounts.

Meagan moved home to her native South Carolina in August 2020. She and her husband, Drew, live in Columbia with their dogs, Major and Frank.

Education

University of Mississippi School of Law, J.D., Summa Cum Laude, 2013

Clemson University, B.S. in Marketing, Cum Laude, 2009

Cannon Financial Institute Trust School, Honors Graduate, 2021

Bar Admissions

South Carolina

Mississippi

Speaking and Writing

• South Carolina Bar Convention 2022, Greenville, South Carolina, Probate, Estate Planning & Trust Section: Who’s in Charge Here? The Who, What, When and Why of Selecting a Fiduciary.

• South Carolina Bar Convention 2024, Charleston, South Carolina, Probate, Estate Planning & Trust Section: Decanting and Modification of Existing Irrevocable Trusts.

• Cannon Financial Institute, Adjunct Instructor in estate planning, estate administration, and trust administration.

• Newsome, William G., MacBean, Meagan L. & Spitz, Jonathan E. Volume 32, Issue 4, SC Lawyer Magazine, Who’s in Charge Here? The Who, What, When and Why of Selecting a Fiduciary.

• MacBean, Meagan L., Volume 35, Issue 5, SC Lawyer Magazine, What Do You Mean “Irrevocable?”: Decanting, Modification & Other Things You Need to Know About “Irrevocable” Trusts.

Scott W. Hutto is the sole shareholder of Hutto Law Firm, P.A., located in Georgetown, South Carolina.  Scott practices in the areas of estate planning, probate administration, probate litigation and corporate planning.  Scott received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Wofford College in 1991 and his J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina in 1998.  He is a member of the American Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar and the Georgetown County Bar.  In 2005, Scott was initially certified as a Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the South Carolina Supreme Court and was re-certified again in 2020.  Scott is also a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).  He has served two terms as a member of the Estate Planning and Probate Law Specialization Advisory Board, and he is a frequent speaker on the topics of estate planning and probate administration.  Scott is a past board member of the following organizations:  Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Section of the South Carolina Bar, Georgetown County Board of Education, Tidelands Community Hospice Foundation, Waccamaw Community Foundation, Friendship Place, Freedom for Kids Playground, Arial, A Ministry of Proclamation, Georgetown Bridge-2-Bridge Half Marathon and All Saints Church, Pawleys Vestry.  He is a member of Prince George, Winyah Church. Before attending law school, Scott served four years as an Air Defense Officer in the United States Army.  Scott has been married to his wife, Laura, for Thirty-three years, and they have two children and one grandchild.