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Courts and Community Resources
Lawyers and Divorce
Mediation
Glossary of Family Law Terms
South Carolina Judicial
Department
South
Carolina Family Courts
South Carolina Bar
University of S.C. School of
Law - Coleman
Karesh Law Library
LawHelp.org/SC
State
Statutory Resources
South Carolina Legislature OnLine
South Carolina Code
of Laws - Title 20, Domestic Relations
Divorce Law
SECTION 20‑3‑10. Grounds for
divorce.
No divorce from the bonds
of matrimony shall be granted except upon one or more of the following
grounds, to wit:
(1) Adultery;
(2) Desertion for a period of one year;
(3) Physical cruelty;
(4) Habitual drunkenness; provided, that this ground shall be construed
to include habitual drunkenness caused by the use of any narcotic drug; or
(5) On the application of either party if and when the husband and wife have
lived separate and apart without cohabitation for a period of one year. A
plea of res judicata or of recrimination with respect to any other
provision of this section shall not be a bar to either party obtaining a
divorce on this ground.
SECTION 20‑3‑30. Residence
requirement.
In order to
institute an action for divorce from the bonds of matrimony the plaintiff
must have resided in this State at least one year prior to the commencement
of the action or, if the plaintiff is a nonresident, the defendant must have
so resided in this State for this period; provided, that when both parties
are residents of the State when the action is commenced, the plaintiff must
have resided in this State only three months prior to commencement of the
action. The terms ‘residents’ or ‘resided’ as used in this section as it
applies to a plaintiff or defendant stationed in this State on active duty
military service means a continuous presence in this State for the period
required regardless of intent to permanently remain in South Carolina.
SECTION 20‑3‑60. Venue.
Actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony or for separate support and
maintenance must be tried in the county (a) in which the defendant resides
at the time of the commencement of the action, (b) in which the plaintiff
resides if the defendant is a nonresident or after due diligence cannot be
found, or (c) in which the parties last resided together as husband and wife
unless the plaintiff is a nonresident, in which case it must be brought in
the county in which the defendant resides.
...For further information, please refer to the South Carolina Code of Laws
- Title 20
Divorce
Divorce and the Law
Divorce and Insurance
Marital Separation Agreements
Explained
Marriage and
Living Together Laws
South Carolina Marriage License Information
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Child Support
SECTION 20‑7‑852. Child support proceedings; amount of award.
(A) In any proceeding for the award of child support, there is a
rebuttable presumption that the amount of the award which would result from
the application of the guidelines required under Section 43‑5‑580(b) is the
correct amount of child support to be awarded. A different amount may be
awarded upon a showing that application of the guidelines in a particular
case would be unjust or inappropriate. When the court orders a child
support award that varies significantly from the amount resulting from the
application of the guidelines, the court shall make specific, written
findings of those facts upon which it bases its conclusion supporting that
award. Findings that rebut the guidelines must state the amount of support
that would have been required under the guidelines and include a
justification of why the order varies from the guidelines.
(B) Application of these guidelines to an existing child support order, in
and of itself, is not considered a change in circumstances for the
modification of that existing order, except in a Title IV‑D case.
(C) The court shall consider the following factors which may be possible
reasons for deviation from the guidelines or may be used in determining
whether a change in circumstances has occurred which would require a
modification of an existing order:
(1) educational expenses for the child or children or the spouse, to include
those incurred for private, parochial, or trade schools, other secondary
schools, or post‑secondary education where there is tuition or related
costs;
(2) equitable distribution of property;
(3) consumer debts;
(4) families with more than six children;
(5) unreimbursed extraordinary medical or dental expenses for the
noncustodial or custodial parent;
(6) mandatory deduction of retirement pensions and union fees;
(7) support obligations for other dependents living with the noncustodial
parent or noncourt ordered child support from another relationship;
(8) child‑related unreimbursed extraordinary medical expenses;
(9) monthly fixed payments imposed by a court or operation of law;
(10) significant available income of the child or children;
(11) substantial disparity of income in which the noncustodial parent’s
income is significantly less than the custodial parent’s income, thus making
it financially impracticable to pay what the guidelines indicate the
noncustodial parent should pay;
(12) alimony. Because of their unique nature, lump sum, rehabilitative,
reimbursement, or any other alimony that the court may award, may be
considered by the court as a possible reason for deviation from these
guidelines;
(13) agreements reached between parties. The court may deviate from the
guidelines based on an agreement between the parties if both parties are
represented by counsel or if, upon a thorough examination of any party not
represented by counsel, the court determines the party fully understands the
agreement as to child support. The court still has the discretion and the
independent duty to determine if the amount is reasonable and in the best
interest of the child or children.
(D) Pursuant to Section 43‑5‑580(b), the department shall promulgate
regulations which establish child support guidelines as a rebuttable
presumption. The department shall review these regulations at least once
every four years to ensure that their application results in appropriate
child support award amounts.
...For further
information, please refer to the South Carolina Code of Laws - Title 20
South
Carolina Child Support Guidelines - Adobe.pdf format
South
Carolina Child Support Worksheets
South Carolina Child
Support Enforcement
Child
Support Facts
South Carolina
Child Support Calculator
Support of Minor Children After Divorce or
Separation
Child Support Explained
Child Custody
and Visitation Law
SECTION 20‑3‑160. Care, custody and
maintenance of children.
In any action for divorce from
the bonds of matrimony the court may at any stage of the cause, or from time
to time after final judgment, make such orders touching the care, custody
and maintenance of the children of the marriage and what, if any, security
shall be given for the same as from the circumstances of the parties and the
nature of the case and the best spiritual as well as other interests of the
children may be fit, equitable and just.
...For further information, please refer to the South Carolina Code of Laws
- Title 20
South Carolina Child
Custody and Visitation
Custody of Minor Children Resulting from Divorce or Separation
Visitation Rights After Divorce or Separation
FAQ on Child Custody and Visitation
Child Custody Resources
Property
Division
SECTION 20‑7‑472. Equitable
apportionment of marital property; criteria; finality of order.
In a proceeding for divorce a
vinculo matrimonii or separate support and maintenance, or in a proceeding
for disposition of property following a prior decree of dissolution of a
marriage by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse
or which lacked jurisdiction to dispose of the property, and in other
marital litigation between the parties, the court shall make a final
equitable apportionment between the parties of the parties’ marital property
upon request by either party in the pleadings.
In making apportionment, the court must give weight in such proportion as it
finds appropriate to all of the following factors:
(1) the duration of the marriage together with the ages of the parties at
the time of the marriage and at the time of the divorce or separate
maintenance or other marital action between the parties;
(2) marital misconduct or fault of either or both parties, whether or not
used as a basis for a divorce as such, if the misconduct affects or has
affected the economic circumstances of the parties, or contributed to the
breakup of the marriage; provided, that no evidence of personal conduct
which would otherwise be relevant and material for purposes of this
subsection shall be considered with regard to this subsection if such
conduct shall have taken place subsequent to the happening of the earliest
of (a) entry of a pendente lite order in a divorce or separate maintenance
action; (b) formal signing of a written property or marital settlement
agreement; or (c) entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance and
support or of a permanent order approving a property or marital settlement
agreement between the parties;
(3) the value of the marital property, whether the property be within or
without the State. The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition,
preservation, depreciation, or appreciation in value of the marital
property, including the contribution of the spouse as homemaker; provided,
that the court shall consider the quality of the contribution as well as its
factual existence;
(4) the income of each spouse, the earning potential of each spouse, and the
opportunity for future acquisition of capital assets;
(5) the health, both physical and emotional, of each spouse;
(6) the need of each spouse or either spouse for additional training or
education in order to achieve that spouses’s income potential;
(7) the nonmarital property of each spouse;
(8) the existence or nonexistence of vested retirement benefits for each or
either spouse;
(9) whether separate maintenance or alimony has been awarded;
(10) the desirability of awarding the family home as part of equitable
distribution or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the
spouse having custody of any children;
(11) the tax consequences to each or either party as a result of any
particular form of equitable apportionment;
(12) the existence and extent of any support obligations, from a prior
marriage or for any other reason or reasons, of either party;
(13) liens and any other encumbrances upon the marital property, which
themselves must be equitably divided, or upon the separate property of
either of the parties, and any other existing debts incurred by the parties
or either of them during the course of the marriage;
(14) child custody arrangements and obligations at the time of the entry of
the order; and
(15) such other relevant factors as the trial court shall expressly
enumerate in its order.
The court’s order as it affects distribution of marital property shall be a
final order not subject to modification except by appeal or remand following
proper appeal.
SECTION 20‑7‑473. Marital and nonmarital
property; nonmarital property as not subject to judicial apportionment.
The term “marital property” as used in this article means all real and
personal property which has been acquired by the parties during the marriage
and which is owned as of the date of filing or commencement of marital
litigation as provided in Section 20‑7‑472 regardless of how legal title is
held, except the following, which constitute nonmarital property:
(1) property acquired by either party by inheritance, devise, bequest, or
gift from a party other than the spouse;
(2) property acquired by either party before the marriage and property
acquired after the happening of the earliest of (a) entry of a pendente lite
order in a divorce or separate maintenance action; (b) formal signing of a
written property or marital settlement agreement; or (c) entry of a
permanent order of separate maintenance and support or of a permanent order
approving a property or marital settlement agreement between the parties;
(3) property acquired by either party in exchange for property described in
items (1) and (2) of this section;
(4) property excluded by written contract of the parties. “Written
contract” includes any antenuptial agreement of the parties which must be
considered presumptively fair and equitable so long as it was voluntarily
executed with both parties separately represented by counsel and pursuant to
the full financial disclosure to each other that is mandated by the rules of
the family court as to income, debts, and assets;
(5) any increase in value in nonmarital property, except to the extent that
the increase resulted directly or indirectly from efforts of the other
spouse during marriage.
Interspousal gifts of property, including gifts of property from one spouse
to the other made indirectly by way of a third party, are marital property
which is subject to division.
The court does not have jurisdiction or authority to apportion nonmarital
property.
...For further
information, please refer to the South Carolina Code of Laws - Title 20
Property Rights in Divorce
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