Colleton County Marriage Licenses
Marriage licenses are issued by Colleton County Probate Court. Probate Court is at 239 N. Jefferies Boulevard, P.O. Box 1036, Walterboro, SC 29488. The office phone is 843-549-7216, fax is 843-549-5571, and email is probate@colletoncounty.org. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Judge Ceth Utsey is listed as Probate Judge.
Both parties may appear together in Probate Court. The county FAQ says licenses are issued between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM. For online or drop-off handling, parties may complete and submit the county marriage application with the license fee and copies of photo identification plus Social Security card or alternate documentation. There is a 24-hour waiting period from application until license issuance. After the waiting period, one party may return to pick up the license. The license is valid for ceremonies performed in South Carolina, but Colleton Probate says it is not currently performing marriage ceremonies.
The Colleton Probate marriage license FAQ is the source lead-in for the image below.
The Probate FAQ supplies the local marriage license steps, fee, waiting period, and ceremony status for Colleton County marriage records.
Apply for Colleton County Marriage
Applicants should prepare the form information before contacting the court or submitting a notarized application. The county application asks for identifying, residence, prior-marriage, ID, Social Security or alien-identification, phone, signature, and notary information. The form instructions say to submit copies of Social Security card and picture ID.
- Decide whether both parties will appear in Probate Court or use the application/drop-off route.
- Complete the Colleton County marriage application with both applicants' full required fields.
- Attach copies of photo identification and Social Security card or alternate documentation.
- Pay the marriage license fee through the allowed county method.
- Wait 24 hours after application before license issuance.
- Have one party return for pickup after the waiting period if the county accepts the filing.
Colleton County Marriage Application Fields
The application uses the same core field sequence for both applicants. Birthplace is listed as state only or foreign country. Prior marriage information asks whether this is the first marriage and, if not, the marriage number. A notarized submission includes the applicant signatures and notary block.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Date / text | Unspecified | Top of form. |
| Applicant names | Text | Yes | First, middle, surname, current suffix, and birth last name. |
| Birthdate / Age / Birthplace | Date and text | Yes | Birthplace is state or foreign country. |
| Race / Gender | Text | Yes | Both applicants provide these fields. |
| Residence / County | Text | Yes | Street, city, state, ZIP, and residence county. |
| First marriage / marriage number | Yes/no text | Yes | Marriage number required if not first marriage. |
| Identification and SSN or Alien ID | Text | Yes / conditional | Type of ID plus Social Security number or alien identification number. |
| Phone numbers | Phone | Working-hours yes; after-hours unspecified | Both contact fields appear. |
| Signatures and notary | Signature / notary text | Yes for notarized submission | Applicant signatures and sworn-to notary block. |
Colleton County Marriage Fees
Colleton County marriage fees are published in the Probate FAQ and Probate fee schedule. The certified marriage copy request form says the copy charge is a search fee that includes one certified copy if the record is found. Payment for mail requests is by money order only, payable to Colleton County Probate Court.
| Item | Fee | Source Note |
|---|---|---|
| Application for marriage license | $40.00 | Probate FAQ / fee schedule. |
| Certified copy of marriage license | $5.00 | Probate FAQ / fee schedule. |
| Reissue or correction of marriage license | $6.75 | Probate fee schedule. |
| Online marriage-license payment | Fixed $40.00 | SC.gov Colleton payment page. |
Colleton County Certified Copies
Certified marriage-license copy requests use the Colleton Probate certified copy request form. The request asks for the requester name, mailing address, phone number, both applicants' names at birth and at time of marriage, date of marriage, marriage license number if known, and number of copies requested. The form says an approximate marriage date is acceptable.
Mail the form, a self-addressed stamped return envelope, and payment to Colleton County Probate Court, P.O. Box 1036, Walterboro, SC 29488. The charge is $5.00 per search, including one certified copy if the record is found. Marriage license records are also searchable through the South Carolina Probate Search by case number or any combination of last name, first name, and middle name. A percent sign can be used as a wildcard.
A certified marriage copy is different from a search result. The search may help identify a case number, party name, filing date, county, appointment date, creditor-claim due date, and status fields where they appear, but a certified copy must come from the official custodian. For a Colleton County marriage license filed in Probate Court, that custodian is Colleton County Probate Court. For a divorce decree, the custodian is the court clerk for the Family Court case, not Probate Court.
Colleton County Divorce Records
Divorce cases are Family Court matters in South Carolina. Colleton Family Court records are supported through the Clerk of Court at 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro. The South Carolina Judicial Branch links Family Court public access to the Family Court public portal, but the research could not extract page-level field details from that system. For a decree or full divorce case file, the practical local route is the Clerk of Court in the county where the final divorce was held.
South Carolina divorce law includes specific grounds, residency, venue, timing, and vital-report rules. S.C. Code § 20-3-10 lists grounds such as adultery, desertion, physical cruelty, habitual drunkenness or narcotic-drug use, and one year living separate and apart. S.C. Code § 20-3-230 requires clerks to send divorce or annulment reports to Vital Statistics after final decree.
The South Carolina self-represented simple divorce packets page is the source lead-in for the image below.
The divorce packet source connects Colleton County divorce records to the statewide Family Court form channel.
South Carolina Vital Records
The South Carolina Department of Public Health vital records office is the state keeper for vital information, including marriages and divorces. For divorce, the SCDPH report is not the same as the full divorce decree. The decree comes from the Clerk of Court where the final divorce was held. That distinction is important when a certified decree is needed for legal, immigration, benefits, or name-change use.
Use Probate Court for Colleton County marriage-license files, the Clerk of Court for divorce decrees, and SCDPH for statewide vital-record certificates or reports.
The SCDPH vital records page is the source lead-in for the image below.
The state vital-records source helps separate Colleton County court copies from state-level marriage and divorce reporting.
The SCDPH marriage certificates page is the source lead-in for the image below.
The SCDPH marriage certificate channel is a statewide supplement to the local Colleton Probate Court copy route.