If an unmarried father wants to preserve his rights to a child that he may have fathered, it is important for him to register with the Responsible Father Registry as soon as possible. As of the date of this blog post, a father may register at the following address: South Carolina Responsible Fathers Registry

The statute provides that “any claim of paternity filed with the registry is null and void if it is filed on or after the date a petition for termination of parental rights or a petition for adoption is filed.”  It is my practice to search the registry on the date I file a petition for TPR/adoption. Once I have done so, I do not need to search it again.