South Carolina · statute · S.C. Code tit. 20, ch. 1 · 40 active provisions
(A) All persons, except mentally incompetent persons and persons whose marriage is prohibited by this section, may lawfully contract matrimony. (B) No man shall marry his mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, stepmother, sister, grandfather's wife, son's wife, grandson's wife, wife's mother, wife's grandmother,…
A marriage between persons of the same sex is void ab initio and against the public policy of this State.
Only ministers of the Gospel, Jewish rabbis, officers authorized to administer oaths in this State, and the chief or spiritual leader of a Native American Indian entity recognized by the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs pursuant to Section 1-31-40 are authorized to administer a marriage ceremony in this S…
All persons in this State who, previous to their actual emancipation, had undertaken and agreed to occupy the relation to each other of husband and wife and were cohabiting as such or in any way recognizing the relation as still existing on March 12, 1872, whether the rites of marriage have been celebrated or not, shal…
The children of such marriages shall be deemed legitimate and when the parties shall have ceased to cohabit, in consequence of the death of the woman or from any other cause, all the children of the woman, recognized by the man to be his, shall be deemed legitimate.
The issue of all marriages contracted after the absence of a husband or wife for a period of five years, such husband or wife not being heard from or known to be living during that period of time, are legitimate and declared to be legal heirs of their parents.
If the parents of an illegitimate child subsequently marry, the child shall become legitimate as if born in lawful wedlock and, as to the child so legitimated, all limitations imposed by law upon the amount of property that may be given illegitimate children by deed, will, inheritance or otherwise shall be removed. The…
Any child legitimized under the provisions of Section 20-1-60 shall take the name of his father unless the child has been previously adopted as otherwise provided by law and unless his name has been changed in the decree of adoption, in which case he shall retain the name given him in the decree.
All marriages contracted while either of the parties has a former wife or husband living shall be void. But this section shall not extend to a person whose husband or wife shall be absent for the space of five years, the one not knowing the other to be living during that time, not to any person who shall be divorced or…
When either of the contracting parties to a marriage that is void under the provisions of Section 20-1-80 entered into the marriage contract in good faith on or after April 13, 1951 and in ignorance of the incapacity of the other party, any children born of the marriage shall be deemed legitimate and have the same lega…
Any person under the age of sixteen is not capable of entering into a valid marriage, and all marriages hereinafter entered into by such persons are void ab initio. A common-law marriage hereinafter entered into by a person under the age of sixteen is void ab initio.
It shall be unlawful for any persons to contract matrimony within this State without first procuring a license as is herein provided and it shall likewise be unlawful for anyone whomsoever to perform the marriage ceremony for any such persons unless such persons shall first have delivered to the party performing such m…
No marriage license may be issued unless a written application has been filed with the probate judge, or in Darlington and Georgetown counties the clerk of court who issues the license, at least twenty-four hours before the issuance of the license. The application must be signed by both of the contracting parties and s…
(A) The judge of probate or clerk of court with whom a marriage license application was filed shall issue a license upon: (1) the filing of the application required under the provisions of Section 20-1-220; (2) the lapse of at least twenty-four hours thereafter; (3) the payment of the fee provided by law; and (4) the f…
All authorized offices, officials, or individuals empowered to issue a marriage license shall, at the time of application, provide to applicants for marriage licenses: (1) family planning information supplied to the issuing officials by the Department of Health and Environmental Control; and (2) the "South Carolina Fam…
A marriage license must not be issued when either applicant is under the age of sixteen. When either applicant is between the ages of sixteen to eighteen and that applicant resides with father, mother, other relative, or guardian, the probate judge or other officer authorized to issue marriage licenses shall not issue…
The probate judge or any other officer authorized by law to issue marriage licenses shall not issue any license to any applicant under the age of eighteen years until he has filed a birth certificate, or a hospital or baptismal certificate which has been issued and dated within one year after birth, or a certified copy…
All persons over eighteen years of age and under twenty-five years of age shall furnish documentary evidence to the probate judge or any other officer authorized under the law to issue marriage licenses which shall prove the age of the applicant to the satisfaction of such probate judge or other officer. The probate ju…
Any person furnishing the probate judge or any other officer authorized under the law to issue marriage licenses with a false affidavit shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars.
The wilful failure of any officer responsible for the issuance of marriage licenses to comply with the terms of Sections 20-1-250, 20-1-260 and 20-1-270 shall be grounds or cause for removal from office.
The form of license and certificate of marriage shall be prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar and shall contain information required by the standard certificate as recommended by the national agency in charge of vital statistics, all of which are declared necessary for registration, identification, legal, he…
The Division of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall, for the purpose of uniformity, print and distribute necessary forms of marriage license and certificate to be used by all probate courts of this State in the issuance of marriage licenses.
The officer issuing marriage license certificates shall issue them in triplicate, all of which shall be delivered to either of the contracting parties and the parties to whom they are delivered shall in turn deliver them to the minister or officer who performs the wedding ceremony. The minister or officer who performs…
The probate judge or clerk of court who issued any such license shall, upon the return of the two copies to him by the person who performs the wedding ceremony, record and index such certificate in a book kept for that purpose and send one copy to the Division of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health and Environ…
The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall properly file and index every marriage license and certificate and may provide a certified copy of any license and certificate upon application of proper parties except that upon request the Department of Social Services or its designee must be provided at no cha…