The South Carolina Family Court handles matters such as divorce, child custody and support, adoption and name changes. A large portion of the cases on the Family Court docket deal with the complex issues relating to divorce.

 

In South Carolina there are five grounds for divorce. These include: 

1. Living separate and apart for a year.
2. Adultery.
3. Habitual drunkenness.
4. Physical cruelty.
5. Abandonment.

 If you do not have a ground for divorce you can petition the Court for an order allowing you and your spouse to live separately. In an action for a legal separation the Court can consider issues such as alimony, child custody, child support and division of marital property and debt. These issues can be very confusing but generally the following apply.

 1. Alimony. Either party may be entitled to monetary support from the other. Alimony can be paid in a lump sum or in installments. The court will look at a number of factors to determine if a party is entitled to alimony. These include, but are certainly not limited to, the length of the marriage, the financial contributions of the parties, the earning potential of the parties, the health and age of the parties and who caused the break up of the marriage.

 2. Custody and visitation. Neither party automatically has a right to custody of the children. The Court can order custody to one party, joint custody or shared custody. In making this decision the Judge will determine what is in the best interest of the child. In contested cased the Judge will appoint a Guardian ad Litem to protect the interest of the child.

 3. Child Support, All parents have a legal duty to provide for their children. In most cases the non custodial parent is required to pay child support to the custodial parent. In South Carolina the court uses the Department of Social Services guidelines to determine the amount of support to be paid.

 4. Division of marital property. Ordinarily marital property includes all assets and debts that were acquired during the marriage. Exceptions to this include inherited property and gifts from outside the marriage.

To commence an action for divorce or legal separation a party must file a Summons and Complaint. The party that initiates the action is called the Plaintiff and he or she must serve the Defendant the Summons and Complaint. Most complaints request an initial hearing for temporary relief. The Defendant has 30 days, from the date they were served, to answer the Complaint.

At the initial hearing the judge will rule on issues that need to be decided immediately such as child custody, visitation and support, alimony and distribution of the debts. These rulings are based on the affidavits and financial declarations submitted by the parties. Often times the judge will order that the parties attend mediation to try to work out their differences.

 After the temporary hearing the parties will, most likely, participate in discovery. This includes the exchange of important documents such as bank records, bills and computer records. Discovery may also include depositions, whereby a party gives sworn testimony before a court reporter.

 After discovery is complete the parties ordinarily partake in mediation. Mediation can be court ordered or simply agreed upon by the parties. In mediation a third party, who is licensed by the state, will listen to each party and try to help the parties reach an agreement on the issues that are contested.

If mediation is successful a formal agreement will be drafted and the parties will appear in court to ask the judge to approve their agreement. If an agreement cannot be reached the parties will have a hearing and the judge will ultimately decide all the outstanding issues.