How to File a Paternity Acknowledgment Affidavit in SC: DHEC Form 607

To file a paternity acknowledgment affidavit in South Carolina, both unmarried parents sign DHEC Form 607 under oath before a notary and a qualifying witness, either at the hospital right after birth or later through a South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) office or an approved remote notarization service. Signing creates a legal parent-child relationship, so it carries child support consequences and a strict 60-day window to change your mind.¹

Who Can Use the Affidavit

The voluntary affidavit is available only when both parents agree on who the biological father is, the mother was not married to anyone else at any point during the pregnancy or at the birth, and no other father is already on the birth record.² If any of those conditions fail, paternity has to be established through the courts instead.

Federal law requires that before either parent signs, both receive notice of the legal consequences, the alternatives, and the rights and responsibilities that come with the acknowledgment.³ The person acknowledging paternity must also be given the chance to seek legal advice first.⁴ If either parent signs knowing the man named on the form is not the biological father, both may face perjury charges.⁵

How to Complete and Sign DHEC Form 607

The document is DHEC Form 607, the Paternity Acknowledgment Affidavit. Vital records duties moved from the Department of Health and Environmental Control to DPH, but the form still carries the DHEC name.

The form asks for each parent’s full legal name, the mother’s name before her first marriage, the father’s Social Security number, and the child’s name and date of birth. Both parents need valid government-issued photo ID.⁵

Signing requires two people in addition to the parents: a notary public and a separate witness for the father’s signature. Under South Carolina law, that witness must be the father’s attorney, parent, or guardian, or any adult at least 18 years old who is not related to the child and does not work for the Department of Social Services.⁴ The witness has to attach a written certification stating they discussed the acknowledgment with the father and believe he is signing voluntarily, without duress or coercion.

The easiest place to do all of this is the hospital, shortly after the child is born. Hospitals usually have staff who can act as both the notary and the witness, and staff typically submits the form as part of birth registration. When that happens, the father’s name goes on the original birth certificate and no amendment fee applies.

Filing After Leaving the Hospital

If you sign later, you have a few options. You can complete the form at any DPH office. You can also handle it in person at DPH’s Columbia office or by mail, along with a certified copy of the child’s existing birth certificate and a separate amendment preparation form.⁵ DPH also offers a remote path through a service called Notaries On Demand: both parents verify their identities online and join a video call where a notary witnesses the electronic signing, then the notarized document is sent back to DPH and the amended certificate mailed to the parents.

Fees for adding a father after the initial birth registration:

Amendment fee to add the father to the birth record: $15.
Certified copy of the birth certificate: $12 for a standard search (about four weeks) or $17 for expedited (ten business days or fewer). Additional copies of the same record are $3 each.
Online notarization service fee through Notaries On Demand: $45, on top of the state fees above.

Parents who complete the affidavit at the hospital before discharge generally avoid the amendment and copy fees.⁶

What You Are Agreeing To When You Sign

Once the affidavit is signed and processed, it creates a legal finding of paternity.¹ That legal status comes with three consequences worth understanding before you sign.

Custody Does Not Come With the Affidavit

Signing does not give the father custody or visitation rights. Under South Carolina law, custody of a child born to unmarried parents belongs solely to the mother unless a court orders otherwise. After paternity is acknowledged, the father can petition the court for visitation or custody, but that is a separate proceeding.⁷

Child Support Becomes Enforceable

A legal finding of paternity opens the door to child support enforcement. Either parent, or the South Carolina Department of Social Services, can seek a support order. The father’s financial obligation starts with the legal finding and can be enforced through wage garnishment, tax refund intercepts, and other collection methods. This obligation exists regardless of whether the father has custody or visitation.

The Child Gains Access to Benefits

Legal paternity also unlocks benefits the child could not otherwise reach. The Social Security Administration accepts a written acknowledgment of paternity as one way to establish that a child is the insured person’s natural child, which supports claims for Social Security survivor or dependent benefits.⁸ For a deceased parent, the acknowledgment must have been made before the parent’s death. Legal paternity also supports access to the father’s health insurance, veterans’ benefits if applicable, and inheritance rights.

Rescinding or Challenging the Acknowledgment

Either parent has a narrow window to undo the affidavit: 60 days from the date of the last signature, or until an administrative or judicial proceeding involving the child begins, whichever comes first.¹ If a child support hearing is scheduled at day 45, for example, the window closes at day 45. The rescission section is built into DHEC Form 607 itself, so there is no separate form to hunt down.

Rescinding within the 60-day window does not automatically remove the father’s name from the birth certificate. A court or administrative agency must issue an order directing DPH to make the change, and a certified copy of that order has to be submitted before any amendment is processed.

After 60 days, a challenge can proceed only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, and the person challenging bears the burden of proof.¹ Child support obligations continue while the challenge is pending unless a court finds good cause to suspend them. A later DNA test showing no biological relationship can support a claim of material mistake of fact, but a court is not required to accept that argument, particularly if the father had reason to doubt paternity when he signed.

When You Need Court Instead

If the mother was married to someone else at any time during the pregnancy or at the child’s birth, the affidavit is not available. South Carolina law presumes a married woman’s husband is the legal father, and that presumption has to be rebutted through a court proceeding before anyone else can be recognized.²

Court is also the right path when there is genuine uncertainty about biological parentage. The Department of Social Services can arrange DNA testing and pursue a paternity order through the courts.² A paternity action can be brought by the child, the mother, any person caring for the child, an authorized agency such as DSS, or a man who claims to be the father. Court-ordered genetic testing during that proceeding carries significant evidentiary weight, and given how hard the acknowledgment is to undo after 60 days, resolving real doubt before signing is far cheaper than trying to reverse a legal finding of paternity later.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 17 Section 63-17-50 – Verified Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity
2
South Carolina Department of Social Services. Establishing Paternity
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures
4
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 17 Section 63-17-60 – Admissibility of Evidence
5
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Adding Father to Birth Certificate
6
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Fees – Vital Records (Birth, Death, etc)
7
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 17 – Paternity and Child Support
8
Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.355 – Who Is the Insured’s Natural Child?