South Carolina, vital records
The South Carolina Department of Public Health, Vital Records, issues birth and death certificates, marriage certificates from July 1950 and divorce reports from July 1962. Other marriage years are at the county probate court.
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Vital records
The state office that keeps and issues certified copies of South Carolina birth, death, marriage and divorce records.
Open official site South Carolina Vital Records, Department of Public HealthVital records
Records of births in South Carolina since 1915, with how to order a certified copy, amend or correct a record, and add a father.
Open official site South Carolina birth certificatesVital records
How to order a certified South Carolina death certificate and how to correct one, including delayed death registration and presumptive death.
Open official site South Carolina death certificatesVital records
The state has marriages from July 1950 through December 2025; other years come from the probate court that issued the license. Only people named on it may order.
Open official site South Carolina marriage certificatesVital records
The state has divorce reports for divorces decreed from July 1962 through December 2025, issued to the people named, their adult children and other eligible requesters.
Open official site South Carolina divorce reportsVital records
A records search is $12 and includes one certified copy if the record is found; the fee is kept if it is not. An expedited search is $17.
Open official site South Carolina vital records feesVital records
Department of Public Health index files for South Carolina deaths from 1915 to 1967, with a key to the three digit age codes used in them.
Open official site South Carolina death indexes, 1915 to 1967Vital records
The Department of Archives and History has scanned state birth certificates beginning in 1915, viewable online through its electronic records archive.
Open official site South Carolina Archives, birth certificatesVital records
National Center for Health Statistics links to every state and territory vital records office, with fees and mailing addresses. The federal government itself issues no certificates.
Open official site CDC, Where to Write for Vital RecordsVital records
National Center for Health Statistics data on births and deaths in the United States, such as leading causes of death and life tables. It publishes statistics, not copies of records.
Open official site CDC, National Vital Statistics SystemVital records
National Archives guide explaining that birth, death, marriage and divorce records are made by local authorities and are not federal records, so it sends researchers to the CDC state list.
Open official site National Archives, vital records research guideFederal
Social Security Administration form to apply for an original or replacement card or to correct your record. It generally asks for your birth certificate as proof of age.
Open official site SSA, Form SS-5, Social Security card applicationGuide
Under S.C. Code 20-3-230 the clerk of court sends a report of each divorce to the state registrar within 30 days after the final decree is filed. The South Carolina Department of Public Health Vital Records issues reports of divorce from July 1, 1962 forward for a $12 search fee that includes one copy if found, with additional copies $3 each, to the person of record, an adult child, a present or former spouse or a legal representative. The Department states that it does not have a copy of the divorce decree, which must be obtained from the Office of the Clerk of Court in the county where the final divorce hearing was held. The request form is at dph.sc.gov.
Guide
Record guide
At a glance
More South Carolina records on this site: South Carolina public records, Free Background Checks.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
No. The CDC is explicit: 'The Federal Government does not maintain files or indexes of these records.' Every U.S. vital record is kept by the state where the event occurred.
A certified copy has a raised seal and is accepted by SSA, passport offices, and courts. An informational copy is marked 'Informational, Not a Valid Document to Establish Identity' and cannot be used for legal ID.
It varies by state, but a mail order to a state vital records office is typically 4, 8 weeks. Walk-in county clerk requests can be same-day. Online orders through VitalChek add a separate processing time on top of the state's.
Most states limit certified copies to the registrant, immediate family, and legal representatives. Informational copies are generally available to anyone after a waiting period defined by state law.
You should have a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA, form FS-240). Replacements come from the U.S. Department of State, not from a state vital records office.
All states
Every state page lists that state's official vital record sources, each opened and verified.