Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All South Carolina benefits
licenses & feesstate

Vital Records — Furnished Without Charge for a Claim, Through a Service Officer

Verification of the facts in a vital record needed for Veterans Administration purposes in connection with a claim must be furnished without charge — but to the state veterans department or a county veterans affairs officer on request, not directly to the applicant.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Verification of the facts in a vital record needed for Veterans Administration purposes in connection with a claim must be furnished without charge — but to the state veterans department or a county veterans affairs officer on request, not directly to the applicant.

What it's worth: No charge for the verification needed for a claim

  • The statute leaves the ordinary fee to be set by the board and requires only that it not exceed the cost of the services performed, so no dollar figure is published in the section itself.
  • What is waived is the verification furnished for the claim, not every copy a family might want.
  • The statute is explicit that the request comes from the veterans department or a county veterans affairs officer, on satisfactory evidence of the authorised purpose.

Who is entitled to it

  • The waiver follows the claim, so it reaches the veteran and the family members who claim through the veteran.
  • Your home is in South Carolina.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Go to the county veterans affairs officer first. The statute routes the free verification through that office, not over the vital records counter.
  2. 2Say what the record is for. The waiver applies to verification needed for Veterans Administration purposes in connection with a claim, and the office has to furnish satisfactory evidence of that purpose.
  3. 3Expect to pay the ordinary fee for anything else. The section says members of the armed forces and veterans pay the regular fee for copies used for other purposes.
  4. 4Ask about the marriage, death or divorce record in the same visit if the claim needs it — the section is about vital records generally, not birth certificates alone.
  5. 5Keep a copy of what comes back. A second free verification for the same claim is not something the section promises.
Form
None — the request is made by the service officer
File with
A county veterans affairs officer, or the state veterans department
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is widely described as "free birth certificates for veterans". The statute furnishes the verification to a veterans affairs office on request, for a claim — it is not a walk-up waiver, and it does not cover copies wanted for other purposes.
Known gapThe statute names the Veterans’ Affairs Department of the Governor’s Office, which is where the function sat when the section was written. Which office fills that role today was not confirmed this session.

Sources

Why only one source type: The section carries both the fee rule and the waiver. The health department’s own current fee schedule has not been read this session, which is why no dollar figure appears here.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.