SOUTH CAROLINA Part 44

In South Carolina, there are primarily three ways to establish legal fatherhood.

    Both parents can voluntarily acknowledge paternity while at the hospital when their child is born by completing a Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment.

    Both parents can go to the State Office of Vital Records or to the Vital Records office at their County Health Department and complete the Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment at any time after their child is born (there is a $27 fee to complete this process at Vital Records).

    A court or administrative order is issued stating who the legal father is (this process is followed when unmarried parents request a low cost DNA Test through Child Support Enforcement.