How to Amend a Death Certificate in South Carolina

To amend a death certificate in South Carolina, file a notarized amendment affidavit, along with documentary proof of the correct information and a $15 filing fee, with the Bureau of Vital Statistics inside the Department of Public Health. What you have to include, and who has to sign, depends on whether you’re fixing personal details or changing the medical cause of death, and on whether the death was recorded within the last year.

Correction Within a Year vs. Amendment After

South Carolina treats these as two different things. A correction fixes a mistake using information that already existed when the certificate was filed. An amendment is any change to an item on the certificate, usually backed by new evidence and a notarized affidavit on the Bureau’s own form.¹

Corrections made within one year of the death don’t require supporting affidavits, and the Bureau handles them internally without marking the record. Corrections made after one year must be supported by sworn affidavits of fact, and the certificate is stamped “Amended.”² That stamp is permanent and shows on every certified copy issued afterward. It usually doesn’t cause problems, but you should know it’s coming.

Who Can Sign the Request

Only people legally entitled to obtain a certified copy of the record can request a change.¹ Beyond that, the signer depends on what you’re changing.

For personal details (name, date of birth, marital status, Social Security number, and similar items), the affidavit must be signed by the informant listed on the original certificate. That’s the person who gave the demographic information to the funeral home, often a spouse, parent, or adult child. If the informant has died or is incapacitated, the adult next of kin of the deceased signs instead.³

For medical certification items (cause of death, manner of death, contributing conditions), only the medical certifier who originally signed the certificate can amend those fields. If that physician is unavailable, the change can come from their authorized medical associate, the chief medical officer of the facility where the death occurred, or a medical examiner or coroner with jurisdiction over the case.³ Family members cannot change the cause of death on their own, however strongly they disagree with it.

What to Include

Changes to Personal Details

Use the Bureau’s amendment affidavit form. It has to be notarized, identify the record, name the items being changed, state what currently appears on the certificate, and state what the correct information should be.¹ Attach documentary evidence showing the correct information: birth certificates, marriage licenses, Social Security records, or similar official documents.

If more than one year has passed since the death, add sworn supporting affidavits of fact from people with personal knowledge of the correct information.² These are separate documents from the amendment affidavit itself.

Changes to Cause or Manner of Death

You’ll need a signed statement from the original medical certifier. If new evidence prompted the change, submit it with the statement: autopsy findings, toxicology results, forensic analysis. The Department may ask for further documentation before acting.³ Reclassifications, such as natural to accidental, generally need law enforcement reports or forensic evidence alongside the certifier’s amended statement, and they take longer.

Identification

Every request must include a government-issued photo ID of the person filing. An attorney or legal representative filing for the family needs documentation of their authority, such as a power of attorney or court authorization.

Where to File and How Long It Takes

Amendment requests go to the Bureau of Vital Statistics at the Department of Public Health. The central office is at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201, and regional offices also accept in-person submissions.⁴ You can walk in or mail your request.

Walking in is faster. Mail adds transit time on both ends plus internal processing. A simple correction caught within the first year may be resolved in a few weeks. Amendments that need medical review or extra documentation can take several months, and any request for additional information from the Bureau adds another round of back-and-forth.

If you see older forms or web pages referring to DHEC, the vital records function moved to the Department of Public Health when the agency was restructured, but the underlying process is the same.⁵

Fees

The special filing fee is $15 per record for an amendment, whether the change rests on an affidavit, a court order, or another qualifying basis.⁶

That fee does not include copies of the amended certificate, and you’ll almost certainly need copies for banks, insurers, and probate. A records search with one certified copy is $12 at standard speed or $17 expedited (10 business days or fewer). Additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $3 each.⁶

By mail, payment must be a money order or cashier’s check made payable to S.C. DPH. In person, credit and debit cards are accepted, as is cash in bills no larger than $50. All fees are nonrefundable, even if the request is denied.⁶

If the Bureau Denies the Request

The Bureau can deny an amendment for insufficient documentation, lack of authority to request it, or inconsistencies in the evidence. You’ll get a written explanation. Most denials come from missing paperwork rather than a fundamental problem, and you can resubmit with the specific items the Bureau identified. Denials rooted in conflicting evidence from different family members are harder to fix administratively, and in some cases you’ll need additional notarized statements or a court order before the Bureau will act.

When a Court Order Is Necessary

If the administrative process stalls, you can petition the court. This tends to come up when the Bureau denies the request after you’ve supplied more documentation, when family members disagree about the underlying facts, or when the change is significant enough that the Bureau expects judicial authorization.

The petition is generally filed in the county where the death occurred. Present the evidence supporting the change, including medical records, affidavits, and official documents like marriage certificates or probate records, and explain why the administrative process could not resolve the issue. If persuaded, the judge issues an order directing the Bureau to make the change. The evidentiary requirements are more formal than at the administrative level, so legal representation is worth considering. Even after the order is issued, expect several more weeks for the Bureau to update the record.

After the Amendment: Updated Copies for Estates and Insurance

Order certified copies of the amended certificate as soon as it’s issued. Estates, insurers, and banks that already worked from the original certificate usually need the updated version before they’ll act on anything tied to the changed information.

Contact insurers directly once you have the amended copy. Some claims initially denied based on the original certificate may become payable after the amendment, particularly when the cause of death has changed. If a federal estate tax return has already been filed and the amendment affects it (a changed date of death is a common trigger), the IRS requires a supplemental Form 706 explaining the change and attaching pages 1 through 4 of the original return.⁷

If you’ll be using the amended certificate abroad, the certified copy alone isn’t enough. For countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, the South Carolina Secretary of State issues an apostille on a certificate that came directly from the state’s vital records office; photocopies won’t be accepted.⁴ Non-Convention countries require authentication through the U.S. Department of State and then legalization through the relevant embassy or consulate, and some require a certified translation. Build in weeks or months for that layer.

1
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Regulation 60-19 Vital Statistics
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 44-63-150 – Correction of Mistakes in Birth or Death Certificates
3
Legal Information Institute. South Carolina Code Regs 61-19.1100.1103 – Administrative Amendment of Birth and Death Records
4
South Carolina Secretary of State. Certification of Vital Records
5
South Carolina Legislature. 2023-2024 Bill 3239 – DHEC Restructuring
6
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Fees – Vital Records (Birth, Death, etc)
7
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Estate Taxes