Changing your name after marriage in South Carolina
What South Carolina asks for, where your marriage certificate comes from, and the order that works. Every figure below is dated and linked to the agency that publishes it.
To change your name after marriage in South Carolina you need a certified marriage certificate, then Social Security, then South Carolina DMV.
Social Security comes first. Every state checks your new name against its record before issuing a license.
In South Carolina, a certified marriage certificate comes from either the state vital records office or the county that issued your marriage license.
The state office charges $12.00 for one copy.
South Carolina asks you to update your license within 10 days.
The marriage certificate South Carolina wants to see
This is the part that differs by situation. Everything downstream of it is the same sequence whichever document you hold.
| What | Value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where to get it | either the state vital records office or the county that issued your marriage license South Carolina's state office only certifies marriages from July 1950 through December 2023. Anything outside that window has to come from the Probate Court in the county that issued the license. | South Carolina Department of Public Health, Vital Records | |
| What a copy costs | $12.00 $12 by mail, including a non-refundable search. In person or expedited it is $17, plus a service charge. | South Carolina Department of Public Health, Vital Records | |
| What South Carolina DMV charges | $10.00 A new license showing the updated name $10. A first REAL ID is $25, because it counts as a renewal. | South Carolina DMV |
If you married in another state, order from that state instead. The record sits where the license was filed, not where you live now.
What after marriage changes about it
- In South Carolina, a certified marriage certificate comes from either the state vital records office or the county that issued your marriage license — South Carolina Department of Public Health, Vital Records.
- The South Carolina state office charges $12.00 for one certified copy.
- South Carolina's state office only certifies marriages from July 1950 through December 2023. Anything outside that window has to come from the Probate Court in the county that issued the license.
- The license is the permission to marry and is issued before the wedding. The certificate is the record of it and is issued afterward. Agencies want the certificate.
- Social Security accepts a certified marriage document as evidence of the new name on form SS-5.
Source: South Carolina Department of Public Health, Vital Records · checked
The sequence in South Carolina
- Get a certified marriage certificate. Order more than one — several agencies want to see it and not all return it quickly.
- Submit form SS-5 to Social Security. It is free, and it has to be first.
- Apply at South Carolina DMV once the Social Security record has updated.
- Update your passport, then your vehicle title, then your voter registration.
- Tell your bank, your employer, your insurers, your utilities and your subscriptions.
Questions people ask
- What does South Carolina accept as proof of a name change after marriage?
- South Carolina DMV asks for: A completed Change of Address, Name, Date of Birth, and/or Social Security Number (SCDMV Form 4057); A completed Application for a Beginner’s Permit, Driver’s License, or Identification Card (SCDMV Form 447-NC); The document 4057’s own Name Change line asks for: a court order, a marriage license, or a current passport or passport card in your legal name.
- Is a marriage license the same as a marriage certificate?
- No. The license is the permission to marry and is issued before the wedding. The certificate is the record of it and is issued afterward. Agencies want the certificate.
- Can I go to South Carolina DMV before Social Security?
- Do Social Security first — it’s the record most agencies check against, so getting it done first is what keeps the rest in step. A few states require it outright and say so on their own page.
All South Carolina name change requirements · The national guide to changing your name after marriage
Everything above is free. The rest of the list is the work.
You can do all of this yourself with the links on this page — every underlying form is free. What we sell is the evening back: the official forms filled in from your answers, the steps in South Carolina in the order that works, and a written letter for every bank, employer and insurer you have to tell.
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