Cherokee County Marriage License
Marriage licenses in Cherokee County are issued by the Cherokee County Probate Court marriage-license office. The probate office is at 110 Railroad Avenue, Ground Floor, Gaffney, SC 29340. Applications are accepted Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays. The same Probate Court can answer local questions by phone at 864-487-2583 or fax at 864-902-8426.
A Cherokee County marriage license is a South Carolina license. The county page says the license may be used only for ceremonies performed in South Carolina. It also says the Probate Court does not perform marriage ceremonies, so applicants must arrange an officiant separately. Applications may be started in person, and the county page also points to a mail option through the official marriage-license link.
The license record later becomes the local marriage record kept through the probate system. That distinction matters when a person is trying to prove a marriage after the ceremony. The application step, the ceremony, the returned license, and the later certified copy are related, but they are not the same request. A couple applying now needs the Probate Court application route. A person proving an older Cherokee County marriage needs the copy route based on the year the license was filed.
According to the official Cherokee County marriage-license page, applicants should use the Probate Court route for license instructions and fees.
The county page is the controlling local source for the South Carolina-only license rule, application hours, and the note that Probate Court does not hold ceremonies.
Apply for Cherokee County Marriage Records
The local application process is direct, but the record office has a few strict points. Payment is due when applying. Cherokee County Probate Court lists a different application fee for county residents and out-of-county residents, and it says personal checks are not accepted. Official county sources did not provide a complete ID list, so applicants should confirm the current identification requirements with Probate Court before appearing or mailing papers.
- Contact or visit Probate Court at 110 Railroad Avenue, Ground Floor, Gaffney.
- Apply between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on a county business day.
- Bring required identification and personal information for both applicants.
- Pay the resident or out-of-county application fee without using a personal check.
- Use the issued license only for a ceremony performed in South Carolina.
- Arrange an officiant because Cherokee County Probate Court does not perform the ceremony.
Mail applicants should follow the link and instructions on the county marriage-license page rather than sending a general letter without confirming the packet, fee, and payment form.
For a mail application, the safest practice is to treat the county link as the current instruction source. The county confirms that mail applications are allowed, but official source text did not provide a full form-field inventory or a full list of acceptable identification. Because the Probate Court does not accept personal checks, a mailed packet should not be assembled from memory. Call the probate office if the couple needs to confirm the fee category, payment form, holiday schedule, or whether both applicants must sign a specific mailed form.
Cherokee County Marriage Application Fields
Official source text provided a partial application-field inventory, not a full captured form. Use the table as a practical checklist, then confirm any item that affects eligibility or identification with Probate Court. South Carolina marriage applications commonly collect identifying details for both applicants, and the Cherokee County page confirms the office handles both in-person and mail application routes.
| Field or Item | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant names | Expected | Use full legal names as they should appear on the license. |
| Identification | Confirm with court | Exact Cherokee County ID list was not provided in official source text. |
| Residence | Relevant | Residence affects whether the $30 resident fee or $50 out-of-county fee applies. |
| Payment | Required | Fee is due when applying; personal checks are not accepted. |
| Ceremony location | Required rule | The license is valid for a South Carolina ceremony only. |
Cherokee County Marriage and Divorce Fees
Cherokee County publishes the core marriage-license fees and the pre-1988 marriage-copy mail fee. Divorce-copy costs depend on whether the request is a Family Court decree from the Clerk of Court or a state DPH divorce report. The Clerk filing-fee schedule also lists copy and certification charges that may apply to court-file copies.
| Record or Service | Amount | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage license application, Cherokee County resident | $30 | Probate Court |
| Marriage license application, out-of-county resident | $50 | Probate Court |
| Pre-1988 Cherokee marriage copy by mail | $5 certified check or money order | Probate Court |
| Clerk court copies | $0.50 each | Clerk of Court |
| Certificate under seal of Clerk of Court | $10 | Clerk of Court |
| DPH marriage search fee | $12, with $3 additional copies bought at the same time | South Carolina DPH, per CDC fee summary |
Note: Probate Court says it cannot accept personal checks and does not recommend sending cash for mail copy requests.
Search Cherokee County Marriage Records
Certified copies of Cherokee County marriage licenses filed from 1988 to the present are available for purchase online through South Carolina Probate Search. Select Cherokee from the county dropdown. The same state probate search is also used for open estate cases, so the search screen may show case-style fields even when the user is seeking a marriage copy.
Name search is most useful when the spelling is known. If a person changed a name after marriage, try the name that would have appeared at the time the license was filed. The probate search also accepts case-number style criteria where available. For older family research, the filing year is the key divider because Cherokee County sends pre-1988 marriage-copy requests through mail rather than the online purchase path.
| Search Field | How It Works |
|---|---|
| County | Select Cherokee. |
| All Parties / Case Name | Search mode shown on the state probate search page. |
| Search criteria | Use a case number or a mix of last, first, and middle name. |
| Wildcard | The page allows a percent sign before search criteria for wildcard searching. |
| Results | May show case number, case name, party, type, filing date, county, appointment date, creditor claim due, and status. |
The South Carolina Probate Search page is the official online route named by Cherokee County for post-1988 marriage copies.
The online search is useful for recent local marriage copies, but older licenses have a separate mail route through Cherokee County Probate Court.
Cherokee County Marriage Copies
Marriage licenses filed before 1988 must be requested by mail. Send the request to Probate Court, P.O. Box 22, Gaffney, SC 29342. Include a $5 certified check or money order and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Because the county discourages cash and does not accept personal checks, mail requests should use the payment form named by Probate Court.
State certified marriage certificates are a different channel. The South Carolina Department of Public Health marriage certificate page covers state vital-record certificates for marriage records in the range held by DPH.
DPH can issue qualifying state certificates, while the county Probate Court remains the place to follow Cherokee County's pre-1988 mail-copy rule.
Find Cherokee County Divorce Records
Divorce decrees and complete divorce case files are not kept by Probate Court. They are Family Court records handled through the Cherokee County Clerk of Court and Family Court office. The Family Court office is at the courthouse, with phone service at 864-487-2570. The Clerk main line is 864-487-2571. A person who needs a decree copy, certified decree, docket number, or case-file document should use the Clerk and Family Court route.
Online public case information may be available through the South Carolina Judicial Branch Public Index or Family Court public portal, but family records can have privacy limits. Divorce files may include pleadings, orders, decree details, child-related filings, support issues, or sealed material. If the online record does not show the needed document, call the Family Court office before mailing payment or assuming the file is public.
The Report of Divorce or Annulment form also shows why the court file and the state vital record are different. The form includes decree type, county of decree, docket number, date filed, and Clerk certification fields. It also has confidential statistical fields, including partial Social Security number fields, race, sex, attorney information, and legal grounds. Certified reports do not display the confidential statistical section, and the report itself is still not the signed decree from the Family Court case.
The South Carolina DPH divorce reports page is a state vital-record path for certified reports of divorce, not full court decrees.
Use DPH when a certified report is enough; use the Cherokee County Clerk and Family Court when the legal decree or case file is needed.
South Carolina Vital Records
The CDC South Carolina vital records guide summarizes the state DPH mail route, fee notes, identification requirement, and record-year limits for marriage and divorce vital records.
The CDC listing is useful for state-level certificate requests, but it also confirms that divorce decrees must come from the Clerk of Court in the county where the final divorce was held.
South Carolina DPH has certified marriage records from July 1950 through December 2023 and certified divorce reports for divorces decreed between July 1962 and December 2023, according to official vital-record sources. DPH reports do not replace the court's divorce decree.
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