This scenario happens often enough that the South Carolina legislature included a specific provision in our adoption laws for dealing with Consents and Relinquishments obtained outside the state of South Carolina. South Carolina Code Section 20-7-1705(4) tells us exactly what must be done when a birth parent wishes to sign a Consent and Relinquishment outside of South Carolina for an adoption in South Carolina.

20-7-1705 (4) addresses both the procedures for signing Consents and Relinquishments outside of South Carolina and the contents of the documents.

First, the document has to be witnessed by 2 people one of which must be (a) an attorney licensed in that state, (b) someone designated by an agency of that state, (c) someone authorized by that state’s laws to take consents or relinquishment or to do adoption investigations or (d) a qualified resident of that state authorized by a South Carolina court to witness the document.

Secondly , the document must either substantially comply with the South Carolina statute governing the contents of Consents and Relinquishments or, in situations when the person signing is a resident of the state where the document is being signed, the document meets the legal requirements for Consents and Relinquishments of the state where it is being signed.

There are certain requirements for a Consent and Relinquishment to be valid in South Carolina. These requirements address both the contents of the documents they sign as well as the procedures that they go through in signing the documents and having them witnessed.

After a Consent and Relinquishment is signed by a birth parent, the Consent and Relinquishment is later submitted to a Family Court Judge at a hearing who will determine whether or not the birth parent voluntarily signed the document, whether the document was properly executed and whether the document contained the necessary information.

If the Consent and Relinquishment is determined to have been given voluntarily, contains the necessary information and was properly executed the court will accept it and terminate the biological parent’s parental rights to the child based upon their Consent and Relinquishment.