Waiver of Parental Rights in South Carolina

Legal Context of Waiver

• A voluntary waiver permanently relinquishes a birth parent's legal rights to the child and ends the birth parent's obligations to support the child. The waiver serves as consent to the child's adoption. South Carolina requires a voluntary waiver from the child's birth mother regardless of her marital status. However, South Carolina law only requires a waiver from the child's birth father if he was married to the child's mother at the time of the birth or if he has taken certain steps to protect his parental rights.

Father's Right to Receive Notice

• A birth father who has parental rights based on his marriage to the child's mother must receive notice of the child's possible adoption, so that he may decide whether to consent. For unmarried fathers, however, South Carolina law only requires notice of an adoption under specific circumstances. If fewer than six months have passed since the child's birth, the father must have "openly lived" with the child or the mother and called the child his own, or have provided financial support for the child's care. If more than six months have passed, the birth father must receive notice if he has engaged in substantial and consistent contact with the child.

Protection of Parental Rights

• Fathers can take steps to protect their parental rights, which the state of South Carolina does not automatically confer on unmarried fathers. Men can gain formal legal rights, which include the right to waive those parental rights, by establishing their children's paternity. In South Carolina, an unmarried couple can jointly sign Voluntary Paternity Acknowledgment while at the hospital for the birth. They can also jointly sign a paternity acknowledgment form at the State Office of Vital Records or at the health department in their South Carolina county. An unmarried father can also protect his parental rights by getting a court order naming him as the child's father. An unmarried father who has established paternity to gain legal rights may be able to object to the child's adoption and even file a request for child custody in South Carolina.

Waiver Procedures

• In South Carolina, the birth parents may sign a written waiver of their parental rights at any time after the child's birth. Before signature of the consent document, they must receive an explanation of their legal rights from a lawyer who does not represent the adoptive parents or from a professional who has certification through the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

Withdrawal of Waiver

• After the birth parents have waived their parental rights, they can only withdraw their consent through a court action in the South Carolina judicial system. To successfully withdraw consent, a parent must show the court that she only waived her parental rights involuntarily due to duress or coercion.