South Carolina Family Law Rules and Resources
Looking for South Carolina‘s rules on marriage, divorce, child custody, and child support? Want to find South Carolina‘s state court forms and instructions and local court websites? Here’s where to start. For a wide range of other articles on family law in South Carolina, see the Resources by State section on this site.
Marriage Rules in South Carolina
Requirements: No blood test required. You must be of the age of consent, not be too closely related to your intended spouse, not be married to anyone else, and have sufficient mental capacity, meaning you understand what you are doing when you marry. You can marry immediately after your marriage license is issued. For more details, check your county clerk’s office.
Common law marriage: Yes. A couple must intend to be married, live together for a significant period of time, and hold themselves out as a married couple.
Community property: No.
Same-sex marriage: No.
South Carolina Divorce Rules
Grounds for divorce: Fault or no-fault grounds are allowed, or you can base your divorce on the fact that you’ve been separated from your spouse for at least one year.
Residency requirement: Three months (unless only one spouse is resident, then one year) before filing for divorce.
How property is divided: Equitable division.
Child Custody Rules in South Carolina
Child custody guidelines: South Carolina courts begin with a presumption that it’s best for a child to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents after a divorce. If possible, judges want to support joint custody arrangements.
South Carolina Child Support Rules
Child support guidelines: South Carolina requires all parents to support their children. The amount of child support depends primarily on each parent’s income and other resources and how much time each parent spends with the children.
Child support calculators to determine state guidelines: www.alllaw.com/calculators/childsupport/south_carolina.
State child support enforcement agency: Child Support Enforcement, www.state.sc.us/dss/csed.
South Carolina Courts and Family Law Resources
South Carolina court information and family law forms: www.sccourts.org.
Family services section of South Carolina website: www.dss.sc.gov/content/customers/index.aspx.
