How Do Grandparents Adopt a Grandchild in South Carolina? Consent, Termination of Parental Rights, and Why Adoption Goes Further Than Custody

By Jessica Means, Hall & Means, LLC

How do grandparents adopt a grandchild in South Carolina? Through Family Court, under S.C. Code § 63-9-1110. Each parent whose consent § 63-9-310 requires must consent (silence for thirty days after notice counts) unless the court terminates that parent’s rights or another exception applies. A guardian ad litem is always appointed, and the mandatory 90-day wait ended in 2023. Hall & Means (Charleston) handles grandparent adoptions.

If you are raising a grandchild after a parent’s death, addiction, incarceration or long absence, you may already have a custody order, a history with the Department of Social Services, or simply years of school pickups and doctor’s visits behind you. Adoption is the step that makes that family permanent in the eyes of the law.

This guide explains how a grandparent adoption works under South Carolina’s Adoption Act (S.C. Code Title 63, Chapter 9): what adoption does that custody cannot, whose consent the law requires, what happens when a parent will not sign, and how the case moves through Family Court, including two changes the Legislature made in 2026.

Custody, Guardianship or Adoption? What Adoption Does That Custody Cannot

If your grandchild already lives with you under a court order, it is fair to ask what adoption adds. The short answer: custody and guardianship generally leave the parents’ legal relationship with the child in place. An adoption decree can end it, and the decree itself says how far.

South Carolina’s Children’s Code says so directly about legal guardianship: “Unless the court so orders, legal guardianship does not terminate the parent-child relationship, including the right of the child to inherit from his parent, the parent’s right to consent to the child’s adoption, and the parent’s obligation to provide financial, medical, or other support for the child as the court may order” (S.C. Code § 63-7-20).

What Swain v. Bollinger decided

The Supreme Court of South Carolina answered the grandparent version of this question in Swain v. Bollinger, Op. No. 28078 (S.C. 2022). A grandfather who had raised his granddaughter asked the family court to terminate her father’s parental rights and grant the adoption, and the child’s mother consented. The family court found a statutory ground for termination but still refused, reasoning in part that the grandparents already had custody and that the birth certificate would list the grandfather and the mother as the child’s parents.

The Supreme Court reversed, terminated the father’s rights and granted the adoption. Its reasoning is the clearest statement in South Carolina law of why adoption matters even when custody is settled:

“Custody and adoption are clearly two distinct statuses, with the latter providing a level of permanency that a custody determination cannot. Without the adoption, Father would be free to attempt to inject himself into the child’s life at any time, either by demanding visitation or by bringing an action for custody.”

The Court also held that “[d]eclining to grant TPR and adoption based in part on how the birth certificate would appear is not a proper consideration in ascertaining the best interests of the child.”

What the final decree changes

Once the final decree is entered, the adoption creates a full parent-child relationship:

• A new legal family. “[T]he relationship of parent and child and all the rights, duties, and other legal consequences of the natural relationship of parent and child exist between the adoptee, the adoptive parent, and the kindred of the adoptive parent” (§ 63-9-760(A)).
• The parents’ rights end, as the decree directs. The biological parents “are relieved of all parental responsibilities and have no rights over the adoptee” (§ 63-9-760(B)). But the decree “shall order what effect, if any, the adoption has on the legal rights and responsibilities of the adoptee’s biological parents” (§ 63-9-750(C)), and a parent “whose parental responsibilities and rights are not expressly affected by the final decree” keeps that legal relationship (§ 63-9-760(C)). In Swain, the new birth certificate would list the grandfather and the consenting mother as the child’s parents.
• Inheritance. For inheritance when someone dies without a will, “an adopted person is the child of an adopting parent” from the date of the decree (§ 62-2-109(1)). A termination of parental rights alone does not end the child’s right to inherit from that parent: “A right of inheritance is terminated only by a final order of adoption” (§ 63-7-2590(A)).
• Benefits. The Swain Court noted that “as Grandfather’s legal child, she would also qualify for Grandfather’s social security benefits.” Benefit rules are federal, so confirm any benefit question for your family with the Social Security Administration.

Who may adopt a grandchild

The statute that sets relative adoptions apart is § 63-9-1110. Its first sentence reads: “Any person may adopt his spouse’s child, and any person may adopt a child to whom he is related by blood or marriage” (§ 63-9-1110(A), as designated by 2026 Act No. 99). The Adoption Act does not define “relative” for this purpose, so the statute’s own words, related “by blood or marriage,” are the test.

Any South Carolina resident may petition (§ 63-9-60(A)). A grandparent who lives in another state may petition when “the child is to be placed for adoption with a relative related biologically or by marriage” (§ 63-9-60(B)(1)(b)), although a nonresident’s case carries additional findings and interstate-compact requirements (§§ 63-9-60(B)(3), 63-9-750(B)(7)). A South Carolina resident may file “in the family court of the county in which the petitioner resides or is in military service, or in the county in which the child resides or is born” (§ 63-9-40(A)).

Whose Consent Is Required, and the Two-Witness Rule That Disqualifies Your Own Lawyer

Consent is where every grandparent adoption starts. Section 63-9-310(A) sets out whose consent is required:

• Your grandchild, if over fourteen, “except where the court finds that the adoptee does not have the mental capacity to give consent, or that the best interests of the adoptee are served by not requiring consent.”
• Both parents, if the child was conceived or born during their marriage. The statute requires consent of “the parents or surviving parent of a child conceived or born during the marriage of the parents.” That father’s consent is required outright; the contact test below does not apply to him.
• The mother, if she was not married when the child was born.
• An unmarried father, only in limited circumstances. Where the child came to the adoptive family more than six months after birth, his consent is required only if he “maintained substantial and continuous or repeated contact with the child,” shown by paying a fair and reasonable amount toward support plus monthly visits or regular communication (§ 63-9-310(A)(4)). A different test applies where the child came to the adoptive family six months or less after birth (§ 63-9-310(A)(5)).

An unmarried father whose consent is not required may still be entitled to notice of the case, for example if he is “recorded on the child’s birth certificate as the child’s father” or “properly registered with the Responsible Father Registry at the time of the filing of the petition” (§ 63-9-730(B)(3)–(4)).

If both parents have died, or both parents’ rights have already been terminated, consent comes instead from “the legal guardian, child placing agency, or legal custodian of the child if authority to execute a consent or relinquishment has been vested legally in the agency or person” (§ 63-9-310(B)).

What a valid consent looks like

A consent “must be made by a sworn document, signed by the person or the head of the agency giving consent or relinquishment after the birth of the adoptee,” and it must spell out eleven statutory items (§ 63-9-330(A)). Two of them matter most to the parent who signs:

• It “forfeits all rights and obligations of the person or agency with respect to the named adoptee, including any future child support obligation.”
• But “[g]iving consent or relinquishment does not relieve a person from the obligation to pay a child support arrearage unless approved by the court.” Past-due support survives unless the judge approves otherwise. (For how support is set in the first place, see our guide to how child support is calculated in South Carolina.)

South Carolina also bars paying anyone for a consent: “Under no circumstances may a child-placing agency or any person receive a fee, compensation, or any other thing of value as consideration for giving a consent or relinquishment of a child for the purpose of adoption” (§ 63-9-310(F)).

Two witnesses, and why your own lawyer cannot be the one that counts

The consent “must be signed in the presence of two witnesses one of whom must be one of the following” (§ 63-9-340(A)):

1. “a judge of any family court in this State”;
2. “an attorney licensed to practice law in South Carolina who does not represent the prospective adoption petitioners”;
3. “a person certified by the State Department of Social Services, pursuant to Section 63-9-360, to obtain consents or relinquishments”; or
4. for a consent signed outside South Carolina, a qualifying attorney, agency designee or other person authorized under that state’s law.

Item 2 means the lawyer representing you, the grandparents, cannot be the qualifying witness to the parent’s consent. Both witnesses must also sign a written certification that, after discussing the document with the parent, “it is each witness’ opinion that consent or relinquishment is being given voluntarily and that it is not being obtained under duress or through coercion” (§ 63-9-340(B)).

Can a parent change their mind?

Not on their own. “Withdrawal of any consent or relinquishment is not permitted except by order of the court,” and only when the court finds both that the withdrawal “is in the best interests of the child” and that the consent “was not given voluntarily or was obtained under duress or through coercion” (§ 63-9-350). There is no cooling-off period in the statute, and “[t]he entry of the final decree of adoption renders any consent or relinquishment irrevocable.”

One caution for families talking through a consent: a promise of continued visits does not bind anyone after the adoption. A pre-adoption agreement about visitation or contact “does not preserve any parental rights with the biological parents and does not give to them any rights enforceable in the courts of this State” (§ 63-9-760(D)).

When a Parent Will Not Sign: Termination of Parental Rights

A common belief is that a parent who abandoned the child does not need to consent. South Carolina law works the other way around. Consent is excused for “a parent whose rights with reference to the adoptee have been terminated pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 7” (§ 63-9-320(A)(1)), so the termination of parental rights (TPR) comes first. The statute’s other two exceptions are narrow: a parent the court finds mentally incapable of consenting, with further required findings, and a parent who conceived the child through criminal sexual conduct or incest (§ 63-9-320(A)(2)–(3)).

A grandparent can bring the TPR case. “A petition seeking termination of parental rights may be filed by the Department of Social Services or any interested party” (§ 63-7-2530(A)), and the Family Court hears TPR actions “whether such action is in connection with an action for adoption or apart therefrom” (§ 63-3-530(A)(4)).

Twelve grounds, plus the child’s best interest

Section 63-7-2570 lists twelve grounds. The court “may order the termination of parental rights upon a finding of one or more of the following grounds and a finding that termination is in the best interest of the child.” The Supreme Court states the standard of proof: “the court must find by clear and convincing evidence that at least one of the twelve statutory grounds has been established and that TPR is in the best interest of the child” (Swain). That standard comes from the courts and the Constitution, not the statute; in Stasi v. Sweigart, Op. No. 28058 (S.C. 2021), the Court explained it “is required by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Four of the grounds fit a child who lives with a grandparent while a parent stays away:

• Willful failure to visit, § 63-7-2570(3). “The child has lived outside the home of either parent for a period of six months, and during that time the parent has wilfully failed to visit the child.” The court “may attach little or no weight to incidental visitations, but it must be shown that the parent was not prevented from visiting by the party having custody or by court order.” If you, as the custodian, limited the parent’s visits, expect that to be examined.
• Willful failure to support, § 63-7-2570(4). The same six months outside the home of either parent, during which the parent “wilfully failed to support the child,” meaning the parent “failed to make a material contribution to the child’s care.”
• A condition such as addiction, § 63-7-2570(6). “[A] diagnosable condition unlikely to change within a reasonable time including, but not limited to, addiction to alcohol or illegal drugs or prescription medication abuse,” where “the condition makes the parent unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care of the child.” Rights may not be terminated “solely on the basis of the disability.”
• Abandonment, § 63-7-2570(7), which the Code defines as a parent who “wilfully deserts a child or wilfully surrenders physical possession of a child without making adequate arrangements for the child’s needs or the continuing care of the child” (§ 63-7-20).

Courts look hard at willfulness. In Stasi, a private TPR brought by the child’s aunt and her husband, who had custody, the Court held that “FaceTime or telephone contact is not visitation,” while adding that whether a parent pursues those calls “can be important evidence” on whether a failure to visit was willful. In Swain, the Court described the father’s “four isolated, brief, and supervised interactions with Child as merely incidental visitation.”

The parent’s lawyer, the child’s guardian and the 120-day clock

A TPR case is a real lawsuit, not a formality:

• The parent may receive an appointed lawyer. “Parents, guardians, or other persons subject to a termination of parental rights action are entitled to legal counsel. Those persons unable to afford legal representation must be appointed counsel by the family court, unless the defendant is in default” (§ 63-7-2560(A)).
• Your grandchild receives a guardian ad litem. “A child subject to any judicial proceeding under this article must be appointed a guardian ad litem by the family court” (§ 63-7-2560(B)).
• The hearing has a deadline, with room for continuances. The hearing “must be held within one hundred twenty days of the date the termination of parental rights petition is filed,” but the court may grant a continuance, and “[i]f a continuance is granted, the court must issue a written order scheduling the case for trial on a date and time certain” (§ 63-7-2530(C)).

Proving a ground does not end the inquiry. In Swain, the family court found a ground and still denied the case on best-interest reasoning; the Court of Appeals affirmed, and only the Supreme Court reversed. As the Court put it, “[w]hether the action is private or brought by an agency, the TPR statute and the best interests of the child control.”

When a parent does not respond: the 30-day rule

The Adoption Act adds a rule that runs on silence. A parent entitled to notice must be served “in the manner prescribed by law for personal service of summons in civil actions,” and “[i]f notice cannot be effected by personal service, notice may be given by publication or by the manner the court decides will provide notice” (§ 63-9-730(D)). The notice must tell the parent to “respond in writing by filing with the court” within thirty days of receiving it, and that “failure to file a response within thirty days of receiving notice constitutes consent to adoption of the child and forfeiture of all rights and obligations of the person or agency with respect to the child” (§ 63-9-730(E)). The judge still has to make every finding the decree requires, including the child’s best interests.

What a TPR order does, and the 2026 no-contact option

A TPR order “divests the parent and the child of all legal rights, powers, privileges, immunities, duties, and obligations with respect to each other, except the right of the child to inherit from the parent,” and it may end one parent’s rights without affecting the other’s (§ 63-7-2590). Since May 18, 2026, the court entering a TPR order may also “consider whether a no contact order or supervised contact order between the child and any biological parent or relative is necessary to protect the child’s safety, welfare, or attachment to the prospective adoptive family or other caregiver” (§ 63-7-2630(B)(1), added by 2026 Act No. 196). The same act gives the court that option at the adoption decree, covered below.

If your grandchild is in danger right now, an adoption case is not the fast route. Read our guide on how to file for emergency custody in South Carolina and talk with a family law attorney promptly.

How Do Grandparents Adopt a Grandchild in South Carolina? The Case in Family Court, Step by Step

1. The petition

The adoption petition must state eleven items (§ 63-9-710(A)), including “the relationship, if any, of each petitioner to the child,” any “facts, if any, which excuse consent on the part of a parent to the adoption,” “the name used for the child in the proceeding, and if a change in name is desired, the new name,” and “the existence and nature of any prior court orders known to the petitioner which affect the custody, support, or visitation of the child.” Gather every custody, support and visitation order you have, including orders from any DSS case, before your first meeting with a lawyer.

2. The guardian ad litem is not optional

“Before any hearing is held on the adoption or any matter related to the adoption, the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for the adoptee as in other family court actions” (§ 63-9-720). Nothing in the relative-adoption section waives that appointment.

3. The home study: not required unless the judge orders one

In other adoptions, § 63-9-520 requires investigations and reports before the final hearing, covering questions such as whether the home “is a suitable one for the placement of a child” and whether “adoption by the petitioner is in the best interests of the adoptee.” In a relative adoption, “no investigation or report required under the provisions of Section 63-9-520 is required unless otherwise directed by the court” (§ 63-9-1110(A)(1)). That is not the same as “waived”: a Family Court judge can order a full investigation in any grandparent case. The same section makes the itemized accounting of adoption expenses unnecessary “unless the accounting is ordered by the court” (§ 63-9-1110(A)(2)).

Effective February 27, 2026, 2026 Act No. 99 added § 63-9-1110(B): “Subsection (A) is applicable to children in the custody and guardianship of the department who are placed with relatives or fictive kin for the purpose of adoption.”

4. The 90 days that remain, and the real deadline

South Carolina no longer has a mandatory 90-day wait after filing. 2023 Act No. 80 amended § 63-9-750 “so as to eliminate the mandatory ninety-day waiting period to finalize an adoption,” effective June 19, 2023. The current rule: “The final hearing on the adoption petition must be held no later than six months after the filing of the adoption petition. In the case of a special needs child, the hearing must be held no later than twelve months after the filing of the adoption petition,” and the court may extend that time for good cause (§ 63-9-750(A)).

Two details matter for grandparents:

• “Special needs child” is broader than it sounds. For adoption purposes it includes “children aged six or older” and “children who are members of a sibling group” (§ 63-9-30(10)). If your grandchild is six or older, or you are adopting brothers and sisters together, the outer limit is twelve months rather than six.
• What survives is a custody finding, not a waiting period. Before granting the adoption, the court must find that “the adoptee has been in the actual custody of the petitioner for a period of ninety days,” unless good cause supports modifying the time (§ 63-9-750(B)(1)). For a grandparent who has been raising the child at home, that time is usually already behind you.

Those are statutory outer limits, not predictions. No South Carolina statute or court publishes a typical length for a grandparent adoption, and a contested TPR can add time.

5. The final hearing and the decree

The judge grants the adoption only after finding that (§ 63-9-750(B)):

1. the child has been in your actual custody for ninety days, unless good cause modifies the time;
2. “all necessary consents or relinquishments for the purpose of adoption have been obtained”;
3. everyone entitled to notice received it, and any resulting hearing has been held;
4. any disbursements are “reasonable costs for expenses incurred or for fees for services rendered”;
5. you are “a fit and proper person and able to care for the child and to provide for the child’s welfare”;
6. “the best interests of the adoptee are served by the adoption”; and
7. for a petitioner who lives outside South Carolina, the required nonresident findings and interstate-compact compliance are in place.

These seven findings, not the factors a court weighs in a custody dispute between two parents, are what an adoption turns on. The written decree “shall also include the new name of the adoptee, if appropriate, and may not include any other name by which the adoptee has been known or the names of the biological or presumed parents of the adoptee” (§ 63-9-750(C)). Once the clerk sends the certificate of adoption to the State Registrar (§ 63-9-790(B)), a child born in South Carolina receives a supplementary birth certificate “showing the adoptive parents as the parents” (§ 44-63-140(1)(a)). Adoption hearings are confidential and held in closed court unless the court orders otherwise (§ 63-9-780(A)).

6. Contact after the adoption: what the law allows in 2026

Three rules answer the question families ask at this stage:

• Side agreements are not enforceable. As noted above, a pre-adoption promise of visits gives the biological parents no rights a court will enforce (§ 63-9-760(D)).
• The judge may restrict contact. Since May 18, 2026, when entering a final adoption decree, the court may “consider whether a no contact order or supervised contact order between the child and any biological parent or relative is necessary to protect the child’s safety, welfare, or attachment to the adoptive family” (§ 63-9-765(B)(1), added by 2026 Act No. 196). The court weighs factors such as any history of violence, stalking, harassment or threats, the child’s age, maturity and expressed preference, and the existing relationship (§ 63-9-765(C)). Such an order lasts until the child turns eighteen unless the court modifies or ends it sooner; it “restrains the biological parent or relative and does not prohibit the child from initiating contact” (§ 63-9-765(F)–(G)).
• Grandparent visitation has its own gate. South Carolina’s grandparent-visitation statute applies only where “either or both parents of the minor child is or are deceased, or are divorced, or are living separate and apart in different habitats.” Even then, the court must find that the grandparent is being unreasonably deprived of visits, “including denying visitation of the minor child to the grandparent for a period exceeding ninety days”; that visitation would not interfere with the parent-child relationship; and, “by clear and convincing evidence,” that the parents are unfit or that compelling circumstances overcome the presumption that the parents’ decision is in the child’s best interest (§ 63-3-530(A)(33)). No South Carolina statute keeps a biological grandparent’s visitation in place after an adoption. If the child’s other grandparents have a visitation order, the petition must disclose it (§ 63-9-710(A)(9)), and your lawyer should address it at the start.

FAQ: Grandparent Adoption in South Carolina: Frequently Asked Questions

Can grandparents adopt a grandchild they already have custody of? Yes. In Swain v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court of South Carolina wrote, “we reject the notion that because Grandfather already has custody, TPR and adoption would not promote stability for the child,” and called custody and adoption “two distinct statuses.”

Do both parents have to agree? Each parent whose consent § 63-9-310 requires must either sign a valid consent or be excused from consenting, most often because the court has terminated that parent’s rights. A parent who receives notice and does not file a written response within thirty days is treated as consenting under § 63-9-730(E)(3).

Is a home study required for a grandparent adoption in South Carolina? Not unless the judge orders one (§ 63-9-1110(A)(1)). A guardian ad litem for the child, however, is required in every adoption (§ 63-9-720).

If a parent consents, is the back child support forgiven? Not automatically. Consent ends any future support obligation, but it “does not relieve a person from the obligation to pay a child support arrearage unless approved by the court” (§ 63-9-330(A)(6)).

How long does a grandparent adoption take? The statute sets outer limits rather than a typical timeline: the final hearing must be held no later than six months after filing, or twelve months for a “special needs child” (a definition that includes children six or older), unless the court extends the time for good cause. A TPR hearing must be held within 120 days of that petition’s filing unless the court grants a continuance.

Does my grandchild get a say? If your grandchild is over fourteen, yes: the child must consent unless the court finds the child lacks the mental capacity to consent or that the child’s best interests are served by not requiring it (§ 63-9-310(A)(1)). A younger child’s consent is not required, but a guardian ad litem is appointed for the child in every adoption, and no adoption is granted without a finding that it serves the child’s best interests.

Request a Confidential Consultation with a Charleston Grandparent Adoption Attorney

You have likely already done the hardest part: giving your grandchild a stable home. The legal work is about making that home permanent, and it turns on details: whose consent the law requires, whether a parent will sign, and how to build a record a judge can rely on if a parent will not.

At Hall & Means, we handle stepparent and grandparent adoptions in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. We help you sort out where each parent stands, whether the case needs a termination of parental rights, and what the guardian ad litem and the judge will look for. If adoption is not the right next step yet, we will tell you; sometimes a custody case comes first. You work directly with Mary Ann or Jessica, not a paralegal screening calls.

To talk it through confidentially and without obligation, call (843) 377-1341, request a consultation, or inquire online. You can also learn more about our stepparent and grandparent adoption practice in Charleston, our child custody work, or our guide to child custody rights in South Carolina.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. South Carolina law changes and every case turns on its specific facts. Consult a licensed South Carolina family-law attorney about your situation.

Primary sources, text verified October 2026: S.C. Code Title 63, Chapter 9 (the Adoption Act); Title 63, Chapter 7 (§§ 63-7-20 and 63-7-2530 through 63-7-2620); § 63-3-530; § 62-2-109; § 44-63-140; 2026 Act No. 99 (§ 63-9-1110, effective February 27, 2026); 2026 Act No. 196 (§§ 63-7-2630 and 63-9-765, effective May 18, 2026); 2023 Act No. 80 (§ 63-9-750, effective June 19, 2023); Swain v. Bollinger*, Op. No. 28078 (S.C. 2022); Stasi v. Sweigart, Op. No. 28058 (S.C. 2021).*