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How to Adopt an Adult in South Carolina

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · South Carolina · Last updated October 7, 2026

South Carolina does the whole of adult adoption in one sentence, and it gets there by switching most of its Adoption Act off. Adult adoption is a family court order that permanently makes one adult the legal parent of another adult, with the inheritance and next of kin consequences that follow. S.C. Code 63-9-1120 says an adult person may be adopted by another adult person, then declares that Sections 63-9-30 through 63-9-760, excluding Section 63-9-740, do not apply. That clause removes the consent section, the notice section, the investigation section, the petition checklist, the ninety day custody finding and the state residency rule in a single stroke. What survives is short. Any adult may be adopted. South Carolina names no qualifying categories, sets no minimum age gap, and does not require the person being adopted to be younger. Two written consents go to the court: the consent of the person being adopted or his guardian, and the consent of the spouse of a sole adoptive parent. Read that second one closely. It is keyed to a sole adoptive parent, so it reaches a married person petitioning alone, and South Carolina never makes a husband or wife join as a co petitioner. Birth parents consent to nothing and get no notice. Family court holds exclusive jurisdiction over the adoption of adults by name (63-3-530), you file where the adoptive parents reside, and the fee is $150. Investigation happens only as the court considers advisable. A name change is a separate case. Attorney review of your documents is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in South Carolina

Who are you hoping to adopt?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Who can be adopted as an adult in South Carolina?

Any adult. S.C. Code 63-9-1120 says an adult person may be adopted by another adult person, with no list of qualifying categories attached. South Carolina sets no minimum number of years between the two people and does not require the person being adopted to be younger than the person adopting.

Which spouse has to consent to a South Carolina adult adoption?

Only the spouse of a sole adoptive parent, and only in writing filed with the court (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). A married person petitioning alone needs that consent. A married couple petitioning together files none, because neither is a sole adoptive parent. No spouse ever has to join as a co petitioner.

What does it cost to file an adult adoption in South Carolina?

The South Carolina Judicial Branch schedule puts domestic and foreign adoption actions in the $150 filing fee column for family court. That figure is built in statute from the $100 first petition fee in S.C. Code 8-21-310(C)(1) plus the additional $50 added by S.C. Code 14-1-204(B)(1).

Which court handles an adult adoption in South Carolina?

Family court, which holds exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine actions for and related to the adoption of children and adults (S.C. Code 63-3-530(A)(3)). The petition goes to the family court in the county where the adoptive parents reside (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). Not probate court and not circuit court.

South Carolina adult adoption at a glance

An adult adoption in South Carolina is a family court decree that makes one adult the permanent legal parent of another adult. The state writes no separate adult procedure. S.C. Code 63-9-1120 opens the door to any adult, then switches Sections 63-9-30 through 63-9-760 off for adult cases, which takes the birth parent consent rules, the notice rules, the mandatory investigations, the petition checklist and the state residency requirement with it. Four rules remain: the consent of the person being adopted or his guardian, the consent of the spouse of a sole adoptive parent, filing in the county where the adoptive parents reside, and a best interests finding after whatever investigation the court considers advisable. The decree then carries the legal consequences stated in S.C. Code 62-2-109, the Probate Code intestate succession rule.

Petitioning alone while married in Richland County

Suppose you live in Columbia, you are married, and you want to adopt the 34 year old woman you have raised since she was nine, but your husband does not want to become a second legal parent. South Carolina lets you do exactly that. You petition alone, so you are a sole adoptive parent, and your husband files a written consent under S.C. Code 63-9-1120 without becoming a petitioner. She files her own written consent. Her birth parents sign nothing and receive no notice, because S.C. Code 63-9-310 and 63-9-730 are switched off for adult cases. You file in Richland County family court, pay $150, and file the itemized accounting of disbursements. She wants your surname, so that follows as a separate action. Attorney review of your documents is available through DocDraft.

Relevant Laws

S.C. Code 63-9-1120 (adult adoption)

The entire adult adoption rule. Permits any adult to be adopted by another adult, requires the consent of the person to be adopted or his guardian plus the consent of the spouse of a sole adoptive parent, makes Sections 63-9-30 through 63-9-760 inapplicable except Section 63-9-740, sets venue, and allows investigation as the court considers advisable.

S.C. Code 63-3-530(A)(3) (exclusive family court jurisdiction over adult adoptions)

Gives the family court exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine actions for and related to the adoption of children and adults. South Carolina is one of the few states whose jurisdiction statute names adults out loud, which settles that neither probate court nor circuit court is the forum.

S.C. Code 62-2-109 (effect of the decree on intestate succession)

The Probate Code section whose legal consequences the adult adoption decree carries. From the date the final decree is entered, and except as otherwise provided in Section 63-9-1120, an adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and not of the natural parents, with a carve out for adoption by a natural parent's spouse.

S.C. Code 15-49-10 and 15-49-20 (separate name change action)

Because the decree provision authorizing a new name is switched off for adults, a surname change is its own family court case. It requires six months of South Carolina residency and attachments including a State Law Enforcement Division fingerprint and criminal background check and a Department of Social Services registry screening statement.

South Carolina Judicial Branch: Family Court Filing Fees

The Judicial Branch fee schedule listing domestic and foreign adoption actions in the $150 filing fee column, alongside the no fee and $100 categories. It matches the statutory chain of $100 under S.C. Code 8-21-310(C)(1) plus the additional $50 under S.C. Code 14-1-204(B)(1).

Regional Variances

South Carolina adult adoption rules at a glance

Who may be adopted

Any adult. S.C. Code 63-9-1120 says an adult person may be adopted by another adult person, with no enumerated categories, no disability predicate and no prior relationship test. Both parties must be eighteen or older (S.C. Code 15-1-320(a)).

Age relationship

No rule at all. South Carolina sets no minimum number of years between the parties and, unlike states that require the adoptee to be younger, imposes no age order requirement either. The words older, younger, year and age appear nowhere in S.C. Code 63-9-1120.

Consent of the person being adopted

Required in writing and filed with the court, or alternatively the consent of his guardian (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). The chapter's general consent section, S.C. Code 63-9-310, which turns on being over fourteen, is switched off for adult cases.

Consent of the adopting person's spouse

Required only where there is a sole adoptive parent, in writing filed with the court (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). Joinder as a co petitioner is never required. A married couple petitioning together files no spousal consent.

Consent of the adoptee's spouse

Not addressed. The single occurrence of the word spouse in S.C. Code 63-9-1120 refers to the spouse of a sole adoptive parent, and the chapter's consent and notice sections are switched off. This is an absence in the text rather than an express exemption.

Birth parents

No consent and no notice. S.C. Code 63-9-310 and S.C. Code 63-9-730 both fall inside the range S.C. Code 63-9-1120 declares inapplicable to the adoption of an adult person.

Court and venue

Family court, with exclusive jurisdiction over the adoption of children and adults (S.C. Code 63-3-530(A)(3)). File in the county where the adoptive parents reside (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). No durational residency period applies.

Filing fee

$150 for a domestic adoption action on the Judicial Branch family court schedule, which tracks the $100 first petition fee in S.C. Code 8-21-310(C)(1) plus the $50 added by S.C. Code 14-1-204(B)(1). Motion fees under S.C. Code 8-21-320 are separate.

Investigation

Discretionary only. The mandatory preplacement, background and postplacement studies in S.C. Code 63-9-520 are switched off, and S.C. Code 63-9-1120 substitutes those investigations as the court considers advisable.

Waiting period

None. The six month hearing deadline and the ninety day actual custody finding in S.C. Code 63-9-750 are inside the switched off range, so no placement based clock runs in an adult case.

Accounting of disbursements

S.C. Code 63-9-740 is expressly carved out of the exclusion, so on the face of the text the verified itemized accounting of everything of value paid or promised still applies at the final hearing. Attorney review of this point is available.

Name change

Not available in the decree, because S.C. Code 63-9-750(C) is switched off. It is a separate family court action under S.C. Code 15-49-10 requiring six months of residency, a State Law Enforcement Division background check and registry screening statements, with its own $150 fee.

Inheritance

The decree carries the legal consequences stated in S.C. Code 62-2-109, the intestate succession rule, rather than the broad effect provision in S.C. Code 63-9-760, which is switched off. The two sections cross reference each other, so attorney review of this interaction is available.

Confidentiality

S.C. Code 63-9-780 sits outside the switched off range. Hearings under the article are confidential and closed unless the court orders otherwise, and the clerk's file is sealed on entry of the final decree.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Confirm both parties are eighteen or older

Before you draft anything days after starting

South Carolina reads every statutory reference to a minor as a person under eighteen (S.C. Code 15-1-320(a)) and defines a child in Title 63 as a person under eighteen (S.C. Code 63-1-40(1)). An under eighteen adoptee belongs in the minor adoption track, not under S.C. Code 63-9-1120.

Decide whether you petition alone or with your spouse

Before the consents are drafted days after starting

The answer changes the filing. Petitioning alone while married makes you a sole adoptive parent and triggers your spouse's written consent under S.C. Code 63-9-1120. Petitioning jointly makes you both legal parents and requires no spousal consent at all.

Draft the written consents

Before filing days after starting

Prepare the consent of the person being adopted, or his guardian, and the consent of the spouse of a sole adoptive parent if that applies. S.C. Code 63-9-1120 requires both to be filed in writing with the court. Attorney review of the consents is available through DocDraft.

Draft the petition for adoption of an adult

With the consents days after starting

No statute sets the contents, because S.C. Code 63-9-710 is switched off for adult cases. Plead the parties, ages, residences, the relationship, the reason for the adoption and the best interests finding the court must make under S.C. Code 63-9-1120. Check local family court practice.

Prepare the itemized accounting of disbursements

Before the final hearing days after starting

S.C. Code 63-9-740 is the one section expressly carved out of the exclusion in S.C. Code 63-9-1120, so plan to file the full itemized accounting of anything of value paid, promised or anticipated in connection with the adoption, verified under penalty of perjury.

File in the county family court and pay the fee

When the papers are signed days after starting

File the petition and consents with the family court in the county where the adoptive parents reside (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). The Judicial Branch schedule lists $150 for a domestic adoption action. Family court has exclusive jurisdiction over adult adoptions (S.C. Code 63-3-530(A)(3)).

Attend the hearing and take up any ordered investigation

On your hearing date days after starting

The court may enter a decree after a hearing and after those investigations it considers advisable, on finding the adoption serves the best interests of the persons involved (S.C. Code 63-9-1120). Nothing is mandatory, so respond promptly if the judge does order an inquiry.

Open a separate name change action if a surname change is wanted

After the decree days after starting

File under S.C. Code 15-49-10 in family court. You need six months of South Carolina residency, a State Law Enforcement Division fingerprint and criminal background check, a Department of Social Services registry screening statement, a support affidavit and a sex offender registry screening statement (S.C. Code 15-49-20(A)).

Frequently Asked Questions

Other South Carolina guides

Adverse Possession in South Carolina: Ten Years Against a Presumption

Asset Protection Planning in South Carolina (2026)

Dealing With Debt Collectors in South Carolina (2026)

Expunging a Criminal Record in South Carolina (2026)

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in South Carolina

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in South Carolina (2026)

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