What Rights Do Unmarried Mothers Have in South Carolina?

If you are an unmarried mother in South Carolina, you hold sole legal and physical custody of your child from the moment of birth, with no court filing, hearing, or paperwork required. That default status sits at the center of unmarried mother rights in South Carolina, and it shapes nearly every decision that follows about the father, child support, and where you can live. The father has no legal right to custody or visitation until paternity is formally established and a court separately grants him those rights.

Sole Custody From the Day Your Child Is Born

Section 63-17-20 of the South Carolina Code states that custody of a child born to unmarried parents belongs solely to the mother unless she has voluntarily surrendered her parental rights or a court has ordered otherwise.¹ It happens automatically at birth.

Sole legal custody means you make every major decision for your child on your own: education, healthcare, religious upbringing, extracurricular activities. Sole physical custody means the child lives with you. Until paternity is legally established, the father cannot file for custody, request visitation, or block any decision you make.

This default doesn’t expire. It stays in place indefinitely unless the father takes two separate affirmative steps: establishing paternity, and then petitioning the Family Court for rights. Neither one happens on its own.

Why You Might Still Want Paternity Established

Your custody is secure without it. But establishing the child’s legal father unlocks protections your child cannot access any other way, including child support, inheritance, and federal survivor benefits.

Signing a Paternity Acknowledgment

The fastest route is a Paternity Acknowledgment Affidavit, usually offered at the hospital right after birth. Both parents sign in front of a notary, and the hospital forwards the form to the state. The father’s name is then added to the birth certificate.² If you didn’t sign at the hospital, you can file later through the Department of Public Health. Adding the father’s name to an existing birth certificate costs $15, plus any new certified copies.³

A signed acknowledgment creates a legal finding of paternity, but either parent can rescind it within 60 days of signing or before the start of any court proceeding involving the child, whichever comes first.¹ After that window closes, undoing it is considerably harder. If you have any doubt about biological fatherhood, act inside those 60 days.

Court-Ordered DNA Testing

When the father refuses to sign or paternity is disputed, either parent can file a court action. The court can then order the mother, the alleged father, and the child to submit to DNA testing under the supervision of a qualified expert, and the court decides who pays.¹ In cases brought through the Department of Social Services where the alleged father is indigent, the state may cover the cost. At-home DNA kits are cheaper but not admissible in court; if litigation is likely, use a court-ordered test.

Getting Child Support

Once paternity is established, you have two ways to pursue support.

You can file a private action in Family Court. The filing fee is $150 for a support action, and you handle the case yourself or with an attorney.⁴

Or you can apply through the South Carolina Department of Social Services, which runs the state’s child support enforcement program. There’s no cost to apply.⁵ DSS can help establish paternity, locate the father, and pursue the order for you. For parents who have never received TANF, federal law charges an annual $35 fee once DSS has collected at least $550 in support, taken from the collection rather than billed separately.⁶

South Carolina uses the Income Shares Model. It combines both parents’ gross incomes to estimate what the child would have received if the parents lived together, then splits that obligation proportionally. Childcare costs, health insurance premiums, and overnight visits all adjust the final number. DSS publishes an online calculator you can run before filing.⁷

How a Father Can Try to Change Your Sole Custody

Your sole custody is the starting point, not necessarily the ending point. After paternity is acknowledged or established, the father can petition Family Court for visitation or custody in a separate proceeding.¹ Paternity alone gives him no custody rights. He has to go back to court and ask.

The court can award sole custody to either parent or joint custody to both.⁸ Joint legal custody would give the father a voice in major decisions. A visitation schedule would give him defined parenting time. Neither is automatic.

What a Court Weighs in a Custody Dispute

If the father files, the court evaluates custody under South Carolina’s best-interest-of-the-child standard. Section 63-15-240 lists the factors, including:⁹

The child’s developmental needs given age and temperament.
Each parent’s capacity and willingness to meet those needs.
The child’s existing relationships with each parent, siblings, and grandparents.
Whether each parent encourages the child’s relationship with the other and complies with court orders.
The child’s adjustment to their current home, school, and community, and the stability of any proposed new arrangement.
Any history of domestic violence or abuse toward the child, the other parent, or anyone else.
The child’s preferences, weighted by age and maturity.
Whether a parent has moved more than 100 miles from the child’s primary residence in the past year, unless the move was for safety.

The court can also consider any other factor it finds relevant. In practice, the parent who has been the child’s primary caretaker, made day-to-day decisions, and maintained a stable home enters the hearing with real weight behind her. For most unmarried mothers who have been the sole custodial parent since birth, that history helps.

Moving With Your Child

Before any custody order exists, you can move freely. No notice to the father is required, and no court approval is needed. That flows directly from your sole custody under Section 63-17-20.¹

Once a court has issued a custody or visitation order, the picture changes. Relocating more than 100 miles from the child’s primary residence becomes a factor the court weighs heavily if custody is ever revisited.⁹ Moving in a way that disregards an existing visitation schedule can also expose you to contempt. If you’re considering a move after an order is in place, filing a modification petition before you relocate is the safer path.

Your Child’s Inheritance and Benefit Rights

Under South Carolina’s intestacy laws, your child is automatically considered your legal child for inheritance. But the child is only treated as the legal child of the father if paternity was formally adjudicated or the parents later married.¹⁰ Without established paternity, your child has no right to inherit if the father dies without a will. Paternity can be established after death, but the window is tight, generally within eight months of death or six months of the personal representative’s appointment, and the standard of proof rises to “clear and convincing evidence.”

If the father dies and had enough work history, your child can qualify for Social Security survivor benefits worth up to 75% of the father’s basic benefit, provided the child is unmarried and under 18 (or under 19 if still in high school).¹¹ The Social Security Administration needs proof of the parent-child relationship. A court order or signed acknowledgment makes that straightforward. Without one, SSA looks for other evidence such as hospital records, school records, or statements from people who knew the father acknowledged the child.¹²

Tax Status as an Unmarried Mother

You can file federal taxes as Head of Household if you pay more than half the cost of maintaining your home and your child lives with you for more than half the year.¹³ For the 2026 tax year, Head of Household carries a standard deduction of $24,150, compared with $16,100 for single filers. You can also claim the Child Tax Credit and, if your income qualifies, the Earned Income Tax Credit. These benefits don’t depend on marital status or on paternity being established.

Workplace Protections Around the Birth

Two federal laws apply regardless of whether you’re married.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth of a child. You qualify if you’ve worked for your employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours in the past year, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles.¹⁴

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or recovery. Accommodations can include schedule changes, extra breaks, lighter duties, or temporary telework.¹⁵

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 17 – Paternity and Child Support
2
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. DHEC Form 0607 – Paternity Acknowledgment Affidavit
3
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Adding Father to Birth Certificate
4
The South Carolina Judicial Branch. Family Court Filing Fees
5
South Carolina Department of Social Services. How to Apply
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 654 – State Plan for Child and Spousal Support
7
South Carolina Department of Social Services. South Carolina Child Support Calculator
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-15-230 – Final Custody Determination
9
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 15 – Domestic Relations
10
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 62 Chapter 2 – Intestacy, Wills, and Donative Transfers
11
Social Security Administration. Benefits for Children
12
Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 1712 – What Other Evidence Proves Paternity
13
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Taxes – Filing Status
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act
15
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act