How to Get a South Carolina Death Certificate (2026)

In South Carolina, certified death certificates are issued by the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH), Office of Vital Records. Immediate family members, legal representatives, and people with a tangible interest in settling a personal or property right (such as a life insurance beneficiary) may order one. The fee is $12 for the first certified copy (which includes the record search) and $3 for each additional copy ordered at the same time.

How Do You Get a Death Certificate in South Carolina?

You get a South Carolina death certificate from the SC Department of Public Health (DPH), Office of Vital Records, which maintains statewide death records from January 1915 to the present. There are several ways to request a certified copy.

Online. DPH directs requests to its authorized vendors, VitalChek and GoCertificates. Online and phone orders are limited to immediate family. Phone orders go through VitalChek at 1-877-284-1008.

By mail. Send your application, payment, and a photocopy of your ID to the Office of Vital Records, SC DPH, P.O. Box 2046, West Columbia, SC 29171. Mailed payment must be a money order or cashier's check payable to S.C. DPH.

In person. You may visit the state office at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201, or any regional Vital Records office. DPH lists both the state office and the regional offices as issuing long and short form death certificates and statements from 2005 to present, and you are not limited to the office in the county where the death occurred. In-person service is typically completed the same day.

Who Is Eligible to Request a South Carolina Death Certificate?

Only certain people are entitled to a certified copy of a South Carolina death certificate. By law, eligible requesters are immediate members of the decedent's family, their legal representatives, and people who can show a tangible interest in a personal or property right that the death certificate is needed to settle.

Immediate family includes the decedent's spouse (if not divorced), parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, and siblings. A legal representative, such as an attorney or estate executor acting on the family's behalf, may also qualify. So may people with a tangible interest in a personal or property right that the certificate is needed to settle, such as a life insurance beneficiary or a joint property owner.

People who do not fit any of these categories generally cannot obtain a certified copy. Instead, they may receive a statement confirming that the death occurred.

South Carolina death records become public after 50 years. Once that period passes, any interested member of the public may obtain an uncertified copy.

You must include a valid government, school, or employer-issued photo ID with every request, regardless of method.

South Carolina Death Certificate Cost and Processing Time

A South Carolina death certificate costs $12 for the first certified copy, and that fee includes the record search. Each additional copy ordered at the same time costs $3. The search fee is non-refundable even if no record is found.

For faster service, DPH offers expedited processing for an extra $5 (bringing the first-copy total to $17), which targets a turnaround of under 10 business days.

Processing time depends on the method. Mailed requests take roughly 4 weeks. In-person requests at a state or regional office are often handled the same day. Online orders through VitalChek or GoCertificates generally take 5 to 7 business days, and vendors add their own processing fee.

Accepted payment varies by channel. In person you may use cash (bills up to $50), credit or debit cards, or a money order or cashier's check. Mailed requests accept only money orders or cashier's checks made payable to S.C. DPH.

Certified vs Informational Copy in South Carolina

A certified copy is the official document, issued on security paper with the state registrar's seal. It is the version you need for legal and financial matters such as settling an estate, claiming life insurance or benefits, closing accounts, and transferring property or title.

South Carolina does not sell a general public "informational" death certificate the way some states do. Because certified copies are restricted to eligible requesters, people who are not immediate family, a legal representative, or someone with a tangible interest in settling a personal or property right are issued only a statement that the death occurred, not a copy of the record.

After 50 years, death records open to the public, and any interested person may then obtain an uncertified copy for genealogy or historical research.

If you only need to confirm a death rather than handle legal business, the statement of death may be enough. For anything official, request a certified copy.

How to Get Additional or Replacement Copies

The cheapest time to get extra copies is at your original request, when each additional certified copy is just $3. Estates often need several certified copies at once for banks, insurers, and government agencies, so it pays to order enough up front.

If you need a replacement or more copies later, you submit a new request to the SC DPH Office of Vital Records using any of the standard methods: online through VitalChek or GoCertificates, by mail, or in person. A later, separate order is treated as a new search and is charged the $12 first-copy fee again, plus $3 for each extra copy in that order.

You must still be an eligible requester and provide a valid photo ID for any replacement or additional-copy request.

Disclaimer: This page provides general information and is not legal advice. Fees, processing times, and eligibility rules can change. Always verify current requirements directly with the South Carolina Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Records before submitting a request.

For the open-record rules and full overview, see South Carolina Death Records. To compare another state, visit the Death Records by State hub.

Sources

This page draws on the South Carolina Department of Public Health Office of Vital Records and the CDC National Center for Health Statistics.