To file a stepparent adoption in South Carolina, you petition the Family Court in the county where you live, secure consent from the child’s other biological parent (or terminate their rights), clear a criminal and child-abuse-registry background check, and attend a final hearing where a judge signs the decree. The process is governed by the South Carolina Adoption Act, and Section 63-9-1110 gives stepparents a lighter track than other adoptions by waiving the formal home study and allowing the court to shorten the usual 90-day waiting period for good cause.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-9-1110 – Adoption by Stepparent or Relative
Who Can File
You must be legally married to the child’s biological or custodial parent. Living together is not enough; the state requires a marriage certificate. You also have to be a South Carolina resident when the proceedings begin, and the petition goes to the Family Court of the county where you live.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 9 – Adoptions Same-sex married couples have the same right to petition as any other married stepparent.3Justia U.S. Supreme Court. Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
What to Gather Before You File
Stepparent adoptions skip the formal home study, but background screening is still required. You, and every other adult in your household, must clear a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) criminal record check and a search of the Department of Social Services Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry.4South Carolina Department of Social Services. Adoption FAQ
Pull these documents together before you file:
- The child’s original birth certificate
- Your marriage license
- Social Security numbers for you, your spouse, and the child
- SLED check results and Central Registry clearance for every adult in the household
- The signed consent document from the other biological parent, if you have it
- A Responsible Father Registry certificate of diligent search, if the other biological parent is an unmarried father
The petition itself asks for detailed information about how long the child has lived with you, where the child currently lives, and the nature of your relationship with the child.
Getting Consent from the Other Biological Parent
Consent is usually the hardest part. If the other parent agrees, their consent must be a sworn written statement, signed after the child’s birth, that includes the child’s date of birth, the signer’s relationship to the child, a clear acknowledgment that they are permanently giving up all rights and obligations, and a statement that they are acting voluntarily.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-9-330 – Form and Content of Consent and Relinquishment The document must be signed in front of two witnesses, one of whom must be a Family Court judge or another person authorized by statute.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 9 – Adoptions – Section 63-9-340 Once the final decree is entered, that consent is irrevocable.
Section 63-9-310 sets out whose consent you actually need. For a child born during a marriage, both parents must consent. For a child born outside marriage, the mother’s consent is always required. An unmarried father’s consent is required only if he has maintained substantial and continuous contact with the child through financial support, regular visits, or consistent communication. If the child is over 14, the child must consent too, unless the court finds the child lacks capacity or that waiving consent serves the child’s best interests.7South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-9-310 – Persons Who Must Consent
The Responsible Father Registry
When the biological father was not married to the mother, your attorney must search South Carolina’s Responsible Father Registry, maintained by the Department of Social Services. An unmarried father who fails to register waives his right to notice of the adoption. If the search turns up no claim of paternity, DSS issues a certificate of diligent search, which you file with the court, and the case moves forward without the father’s involvement.8South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-9-820 – Registry Established
When the Other Parent Won’t Consent or Can’t Be Found
A refusal doesn’t end the case. Section 63-9-320 lets the court bypass consent entirely from a parent whose rights have already been terminated, a parent found mentally incapable of consenting and unlikely to provide adequate care, or a parent who conceived the child through criminal sexual conduct.9South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 9 – Adoptions – Section 63-9-320
If none of those apply but the parent still refuses, you can file a separate action to involuntarily terminate parental rights under Section 63-7-2570. Two grounds come up most often in stepparent cases: a parent who has willfully failed to visit the child, or willfully failed to support the child financially, for a period of six months while the child has lived outside that parent’s home.10South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-7-2570 – Grounds Abandonment is another ground, defined as willfully deserting a child or willfully giving up physical possession without making adequate arrangements for the child’s care.11South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-7-20 – Definitions The word “willfully” matters: a parent who can show incarceration, serious illness, or documented interference by the custodial parent may defeat the petition. You must prove your grounds by clear and convincing evidence, a higher bar than the standard used in most civil cases.
If you can’t find the other parent at all, Section 15-9-710 allows service by publication when the parent is a nonresident or cannot be served within the state after due diligence. The court will want to see documented efforts first: last known addresses checked, relatives contacted, public records searched. If satisfied, the court orders notice published in a designated newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks, with a copy mailed to any last known address.12South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 15 Chapter 9 – Service of Process After the publication period and any required waiting time, the case can move forward even without a response.
Filing the Petition and the Final Hearing
File the petition and supporting documents with the Clerk of Court in your county. The filing fee is $150.13South Carolina Judicial Branch. Family Court – Court Fees Attorney fees are separate and vary widely depending on whether the adoption is contested.
If the other biological parent has not already signed a consent, they must be formally served with notice. The court is required to appoint a Guardian ad Litem to represent the child’s interests before any hearing takes place.14South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-9-720 – Appointment of Guardian ad Litem The GAL conducts an independent investigation and gives the judge a recommendation on whether the adoption serves the child’s best interests.
Standard adoptions carry a 90-day waiting period between filing and the final hearing. For stepparent adoptions, the court can waive that period on a showing of good cause.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Section 63-9-1110 – Adoption by Stepparent or Relative At the final hearing, the judge reviews the background checks, the petition, the GAL’s report, and any testimony before deciding whether to grant the adoption. The detailed financial accounting of adoption-related expenses that other petitioners must file is also waived by default in a stepparent case.
What Changes After the Decree Is Signed
Once the judge signs the final decree, the full parent-child relationship takes effect immediately between you, the child, and your extended family. The other biological parent loses all parental rights and obligations. Your spouse, the parent who remains in the household, keeps everything; the decree simply adds you as a second legal parent.15South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 9 – Adoptions – Section 63-9-760 Any informal agreement you made with the biological parent allowing contact after the adoption is not enforceable in South Carolina courts.
The court sends a Certificate of Adoption to the state, and the South Carolina Department of Public Health issues a new birth certificate listing you as a parent.16South Carolina Department of Public Health. Adoptions – Vital Records If you want to change the child’s surname, include that request in the original petition so the judge can order it in the decree.
For inheritance, the child is treated identically to a biological child. If you die without a will, the child inherits from you under South Carolina’s intestate succession laws, and gains inheritance rights through your extended family. The child generally loses the right to inherit through intestate succession from the parent whose rights were terminated. The child also qualifies for Social Security survivor benefits if you’ve worked long enough to earn coverage, up to 75% of your basic benefit subject to a family maximum, provided the child is unmarried and under 18, between 18 and 19 and still in secondary school, or 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22.17Social Security Administration. Benefits for Children
Two Things Worth Knowing Up Front
The federal adoption tax credit does not apply to stepparent adoptions. The IRS explicitly excludes the adoption of a spouse’s child, and the same exclusion applies to employer-provided adoption assistance programs.18Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit Attorney fees, court costs, and background check fees come out of pocket.
If the biological parent whose consent you need is on active military duty, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can delay your case. The SCRA lets service members request a stay of civil proceedings, including adoption and termination actions, when military duties prevent them from participating. A court cannot simply terminate parental rights while a parent is deployed and unable to respond. Expect to coordinate with the service member’s military legal assistance office if this applies to your case.