South Carolina Divorce

The following information is a resource on South Carolina divorce law. You can also find divorce lawyers and professionals, divorce forms, child support guidelines and worksheets.  In addition to the resources listed below, you can find more help and information in our divorce article section.

Professionals Divorce Lawyers Divorce & Parenting Services Private Investigators Background Checks Divorce Support Support Groups Domestic Violence Shelters and Hotlines	Divorce Papers Divorce Forms Separation Forms Divorce Form Preparation QDRO Preparation Family Law Resources South Carolina Divorce Laws Child Support Guidelines Child Support Worksheet (PDF) Child Support Calculator Child Support Enforcement

* This site receives compensation from affiliate links and third party advertising.  Listings in the Resource and Professional Directory does not imply an endorsement by this website.  WomansDivorce.com makes no warranty and assumes no legal liability for any service or provider listed below.  If you provide a divorce related service and are interested in being listed in this directory, click here.

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DIVORCE LAWYERS AND FIRMS

Need a Divorce Lawyer? LegalMatch allows you to present your case, and respond only to attorneys who want to help you. It's Free & Confidential.  You can post you legal issues with Legal Match and receive a reply from qualified attorneys who can handle your case.  Legal Match is a good directory  that empowers consumers to locate and thoroughly review the experience, availability and price of pre-screened attorneys before deciding whom to contact.

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DIVORCE FORM PREPARATION

Have All of Your Documents Completed For You!  This easy to use, accurate, and up-to-date on-line divorce service is a perfect "do it yourself (without a lawyer)" solution for any uncontested divorce (with or without children) that will be filed in the state of South Carolina.  You can get "Real Person" customer support by phone & e-mail, plus access to 40 downloadable books (valued at over $750).   Start your South Carolina divorce today. 

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QDRO PREPARATION

QdroDesk - is an industry proven online service providing divorcing spouses with an instant, easy, accurate, and affordable method for obtaining Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), the appropriate settlement agreement language, and processing instructions to divide a retirement account upon divorce. The service is a result that only 45 years of combined QDRO experience can provide. When combining this expertise with a smart question and answer technology, QdroDesk has easily become the ideal solution for QDRO preparation.

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DIVORCE AND PARENTING SERVICES

Center for Divorce Education
1005 East State Street, Suite G
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740-594-2526
Email:

Online parenting education to keep children out of the middle of divorce.

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Christian Divorce Services
1217 Hilltop Ave
Fayetteville, NC 28305
Phone: 614-774-3766
Email:

We have locations in every state. When reconciliation has failed, we provide Christian legal alternatives consistent with 1Cor 6: 1-8. Please Contact Michael Wayland at our central office for a referral to a local office.

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PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

Byrd, Stillinger & Associates
1416 Park Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Phone: 803-400-1974
Fax: 803-400-1975

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A Woman's Touch, LLC
Florence "Gypsy" Burns
214 River Oaks
Piedmont, South Carolina  29673
Telephone:  864-306-7972

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BACKGROUND CHECKS

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DIVORCE SUPPORT GROUPS

Divorce Care can help you locate a divorce support group in your area.  There are thousands of DivorceCare support groups throughout the USA and Canada, and many groups meeting internationally as well.

Partners in Prevention provides consulting and psychological services to domestic abuse survivors before, during and post divorce. Additionally, we serve as consulting experts in both civil and criminal domestic violence cases. We also offer continuing medical and nursing education in domestic abuse assessment and clinical management to healthcare professionals. You can contact us at:
13918 E. Mississippi Ave
Aurora, CO 80012
Phone: 720-222-1058

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESOURCES

SC Domestic Violence Resources
SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

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SOUTH CAROLINA DIVORCE LAWS

Divorce Statutes

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS AND WHERE TO FILE:  When both spouses are residents of the state when the action is filed, the plaintiff must have resided in this State for only three months prior to commencement of the action. When only one spouse resides in the state , the plaintiff must have resided in this State for 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. Papers shall be filed in the Court of Common Pleas in the county where either spouse resides.  [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-30 and 20-3-60]

LEGAL GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE:  A divorce may be granted only on the following grounds: 

1. Adultery;
2. Desertion for a period of one year;
3. Physical cruelty;
4. Habitual drunkenness, including 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. [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-10]

LEGAL SEPARATION:  In all actions for separate support and maintenance, legal separation, or other marital litigation between the parties, allowances of alimony and suit money and allowances of alimony and suit money pendente lite shall be made according to the principles controlling such allowance and actions for divorce. [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-140]

PROPERTY DISTRIBUTION:  The court shall make a final equitable apportionment between the parties of the parties' marital property upon request by either party in the pleadings. Each spouse is entitled to keep his or her non-marital property, consisting of property which was: (1) acquired prior to the marriage; (2) acquired by gift or inheritance; (3) acquired in exchange for non-marital property; or (4) was acquired due to an increase in the value of any non-marital property; and (5) property that is excluded from marital property by written contact of the parties. 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;
2. marital misconduct or fault of either or both parties;
3. the value of the marital property. 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 spouse'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. [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-7-472 and 20-7-473]

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ALIMONY/MAINTENANCE/SPOUSAL SUPPORT:  In proceedings for divorce from the bonds of matrimony, and in actions for separate maintenance and support, the court may grant alimony or separate maintenance and support in such amounts and for such term as the court considers appropriate as from the circumstances of the parties and the nature of case may be just, pendente lite, and permanently. No alimony may be awarded a spouse who commits adultery before the earliest of these two events: (1) the formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement or (2) 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. In making an award of alimony or separate maintenance and support, the court must consider and give weight in such proportion as it finds appropriate to all of the following factors:

1. the duration of the marriage;
2. the age of each spouse, including physical and emotional condition ;
3. the educational background of each spouse, together with need of each spouse for additional training or education in order to achieve that spouse's income potential;
4. the employment history and earning potential of each spouse;
5. the standard of living established during the marriage;
6. the current and reasonably anticipated expenses and needs of both spouses;
7. the marital and nonmarital properties of the parties, including those apportioned to him or her in the divorce or separate maintenance action;
8. custody of the children, particularly where conditions or circumstances render it appropriate that the custodian not be required to seek employment outside the home, or where the employment must be of a limited nature;
9. marital misconduct or fault of either or both parties;
10. the tax consequences to each party as a result of the particular form of support awarded;
11. the existence and extent of any support obligation from a prior marriage or for any other reason of either party; and
12. such other factors the court considers relevant.  [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-130]

SPOUSE'S NAME:  The court, upon the granting of final judgment of divorce or an order of separate maintenance, may allow a party to resume a former surname or the surname of a former spouse. [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-180]

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CHILD CUSTODY:  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. 

In determining the best interests of the child, the court must consider the child's reasonable preference for custody. The court shall place weight upon the preference based upon the child's age, experience, maturity, judgment, and ability to express a preference.  Consideration is also given to the religious faith of the child, and the evidence of physical or sexual abuse.  [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-160 and 20-7-1515 through 20-7-1530]

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CHILD SUPPORT: 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 South Carolina child support guidelines required under Section 43-5-580(b) is the correct amount of child support to be awarded. 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 children or the spouse; (2) equitable distribution of property; (3) consumer debts; (4) families with more than six children; (5) unreimbursed extraordinary medical or dental expenses; (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; (13) agreements reached between parties. [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-7-852]  » Return to top