Trying (unsuccessfully) to locate a case referenced by Professor Roy Stuckey dealing with connivance from the days before South Carolina allowed divorce (1949-50), I ended up reviewing alimony cases of the early 20th century. It was interesting seeing what behaviors riled spouses, or the South Carolina Supreme Court, a century ago. Before South Carolina authorized [...]
Blog
The culture’s misconceptions about condonation
Condonation (a legal term meaning “conditional forgiveness”) is a powerful defense to a fault divorce in South Carolina. If proven, condonation revives an alimony claim despite a spouse’s adultery and notwithstanding South Carolina’s statutory bar [S.C. Code Ann. § 20-3-130(A)] to awarding alimony to an adulterous spouse. See, Grubbs v. Grubbs, 272 S.C. 138, 140, [...]
Will the rise of “swinging” in the Lowcountry lead to a revival of the connivance defense to South Carolina’s adultery bar to alimony?
Professor Roy T. Stuckey’s excellent guidebook, Marital Litigation in South Carolina: Substantive Law (3rd. Ed), has little use for the defense of connivance, concluding its section on the defense, that it “should not be utilized except where it would be manifestly unjust to penalize a basically innocent but deceived spouse.” However, in an era in [...]
Supreme Court reverses Court of Appeals and affirms the Family Court’s termination of father’s parental rights
Today’s Supreme Court opinion in Doe v. Roe reverses the Court of Appeals and affirms the Family Court’s termination of Father’s parental rights when Father waited until daughter was nine months old before seeking to establish his parental rights. Justice Pleicones dissented, finding that “the Court of Appeals correctly decided the case…”
In Doe, Mother found [...]
What do Women Want?
Sigmund Freud spent much of his career seeking an answer to the question “Was will das Weib?” (translation “What does a woman want?”). As a husband of twenty years, with two daughters, and as an attorney watching my clients struggle with this same question, I tend to enjoy contemplating and reading on the topic. Often [...]
Why the delay between the Sanfords’ divorce hearing and the divorce?
Under S.C. Code Ann. § 20-3-80, titled Required delays before reference and final decree; exceptions, South Carolina law sets specific waiting periods before the court can grant a divorce. That section reads:
No reference shall be had before two months after the filing of the complaint in the office of the Clerk of Court, nor shall [...]
In South Carolina, juveniles can legally consume alcohol in their parents’ home
Few of the family law attorneys I know are aware of S.C. Code Ann. § 63-19-2460, which states:
No provision of law prohibiting the use or possession of beer, wine, or alcoholic beverages by minors shall apply to any minor in the home of his parents or guardian or to any such beverage used for religious [...]
The perils of inaccurate (or no) financial declarations in family court
For any family court trial involving alimony or attorney’s fees, and for most trials involving child support or support enforcement, an accurate financial declaration is the most vital document in the family court practitioner’s arsenal. A financial declaration requires a party to list current income, expenses, assets and debts under oath. An inaccurate financial declaration [...]