South Carolina does not recognize domestic partnerships. The state has no partnership registry, no civil union statute, and no municipal equivalent that confers legal rights on unmarried couples. For two people in South Carolina, marriage is the only status that produces state-recognized relationship rights, and private legal documents are the only way for unmarried partners to approximate those protections.
No Legal Status for Unmarried Couples
South Carolina has never enacted a domestic partnership or civil union law, and no city or county in the state offers one.1FindLaw. State Laws on Domestic Partnerships The state offered no such framework before the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalized same-sex marriage, and it has not created one since.2Carrie Warner Law. LGBTQ Family Law
The practical effect is straightforward: for purposes of state law, unmarried partners are legal strangers to each other, no matter how long they have lived together or shared finances. The South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority, for example, extends spousal coverage only to a spouse “recognized by South Carolina law,” with no provision for domestic partners.3South Carolina PEBA. Eligibility
What Unmarried Partners Do Not Get
Because there is no recognized status short of marriage, several default protections that spouses receive automatically simply do not exist for an unmarried partner in South Carolina.
Property and Support
An unmarried partner has no automatic claim to property titled in the other partner’s name, regardless of the length of the relationship. South Carolina provides no equitable division of assets at separation for unmarried couples and does not recognize palimony. No reported case has awarded court-ordered financial support to a partner after an unmarried relationship ended.4South Carolina Law Review. Somewhere in Between All-Or-Nothing: Suggestions for Alternatives to Marriage in South Carolina
Inheritance
If a person dies without a will, South Carolina’s intestacy statutes (S.C. Code §§ 62-2-102, 62-2-103) distribute the estate to a surviving spouse, children, parents, siblings, or more distant relatives. An unmarried partner receives nothing.5South Carolina Legislature. SC Code of Laws, Title 62, Chapter 2
Medical Decisions
Hospitals generally defer to next of kin, meaning a spouse or blood relative, when making or authorizing medical decisions. Without written authority, an unmarried partner can be shut out of treatment choices and even visitation.6FindLaw. Unmarried Partners Medical Directives and the Durable Power of Attorney
Federal and Employer Benefits
Unmarried partners are not eligible for Social Security survivor benefits or spousal coverage under the state employee benefits system, and they fall outside other statutory protections tied to marriage.
Common-Law Marriage Is No Longer an Option
South Carolina used to allow common-law marriage, which gave some unmarried couples a route to legal recognition without a license. The South Carolina Supreme Court closed that route on July 24, 2019 in Stone v. Thompson, 428 S.C. 79, 833 S.E.2d 266, abolishing common-law marriage prospectively.7Justia. Stone v. Thompson, No. 27908
Couples who established a valid common-law marriage before July 24, 2019 may still be recognized, but anyone asserting such a marriage must now prove mutual assent by clear and convincing evidence rather than relying on the older presumption based on cohabitation and reputation.8American Bar Association. Abolishment of Common Law Marriage in South Carolina For any relationship formed after that date, a marriage license is the only way in.
How Unmarried Partners Can Protect Themselves
Without a recognized status, protection has to be built document by document. Several tools, used together, cover most of what marriage would provide automatically.
- A will or living trust directs assets to a partner at death; without one, intestacy law controls and the partner inherits nothing.9Nolo. Intestate Succession in South Carolina
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death bank accounts pass directly to a named partner outside probate.
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship on real estate allows a surviving partner to take the property automatically.
- A durable power of attorney for healthcare names the partner as the agent authorized to make medical decisions during incapacity, and a healthcare declaration (living will) states treatment preferences.
- A durable power of attorney for finances lets the partner manage accounts and pay bills if the other cannot.
Cohabitation Agreements and Their Limits
Couples can also put the financial side of the relationship into a written cohabitation agreement covering property ownership, division of shared assets, and financial responsibilities during and after the relationship. To stand the best chance of being enforced, such an agreement should be in writing, signed by both parties, entered into voluntarily, and backed by full financial disclosure.
The enforceability of these contracts in South Carolina sits on uncertain ground. The closest reported case, Grant v. Butt, 198 S.C. 298 (1941), involved a court refusing to enforce an oral agreement between cohabiting partners on the grounds that it was founded on illegal consideration and contrary to public policy.10vLex. Grant v. Butt, 198 S.C. 298 The facts of that case were unusual, but it is still cited for the principle that contracts rooted in sexual consideration are unenforceable in the state, and South Carolina courts have not since produced a clear line of decisions validating modern cohabitation contracts the way courts in some other states have. A 2024 proposal in the South Carolina Law Review argued for legislation expressly recognizing written cohabitation agreements, but no such bill has been introduced.4South Carolina Law Review. Somewhere in Between All-Or-Nothing: Suggestions for Alternatives to Marriage in South Carolina The practical takeaway: a well-drafted agreement is worth having, but partners should not assume a South Carolina court will enforce every term.
Where the Law Does Protect Cohabiting Partners
Two narrow areas of South Carolina law reach unmarried couples.
Domestic violence protection. The Protection from Domestic Abuse Act (S.C. Code § 20-4-20) and the Domestic Violence Reform Act (§ 16-25-10) define “household member” to include cohabiting or formerly cohabiting partners, making them eligible for orders of protection.11South Carolina Legislature. SC Code of Laws, Title 20, Chapter 4 The statutes as written limited this to “a male and female” cohabiting, but in Doe v. State, 421 S.C. 490 (2017), the South Carolina Supreme Court held that gendered language unconstitutional as applied to same-sex couples, preserving protection for all cohabiting partners.12Justia. Doe v. State, 421 S.C. 490 The legislature has not yet updated the text; a bill (S.143) to do so has been proposed but not enacted.13SCCADVASA. S.143 Summary
Parental rights. For children born outside marriage, South Carolina custody law defaults to the biological mother. A biological father must establish paternity by genetic testing, voluntary acknowledgment, or court proceeding before seeking custody or visitation (S.C. Code § 63-17-20).14South Carolina Legislature. SC Code of Laws, Title 63, Chapter 17 A non-biological, non-adoptive partner generally has no parental rights at all, meaning no standing to seek custody or visitation if the relationship ends and no authority to make medical decisions for the child.2Carrie Warner Law. LGBTQ Family Law Second-parent adoption, in which the partner of a legal parent becomes a second legal parent through a court process, is the main way to secure those rights. No South Carolina statute prohibits adoption by same-sex couples; adoptions are governed by a best-interest-of-the-child standard.
Pending Legislation
No bill to create a statewide domestic partnership registry or civil union has advanced in the South Carolina General Assembly. Related activity has moved in other directions. S. 287 (2023–2024) used the phrase “domestic partnership” only to define a cohabiting adult relationship for a proposed single-family zoning restriction and was not enacted.15South Carolina Legislature. S. 287 H. 3121 (2025–2026), the “Live and Let Live Act,” would shield state employees and religious organizations from penalties for declining services based on religious beliefs about marriage and remains in committee.16South Carolina Legislature. H. 3121 H. 5501 (2026) is a non-binding concurrent resolution urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell; it carries no legal force and cannot revoke existing marriages.17SC Equality. H.5501 Marriage Equality South Carolina
None of these proposals would create new rights for unmarried couples. For the foreseeable future, the choice in South Carolina is marriage or a stack of private documents. The documents work best when they are prepared well before anyone needs them.