I was eagerly awaiting the Court of Appeals decision in Allen-Hines v. Hines because I was hoping it would answer the question of whether a short marriage alone was sufficient to award rehabilitative alimony rather than permanent periodic alimony. On August 29, 1988, the Court of Appeals affirmed an award of one year rehabilitative alimony [...]
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Supreme Court tells family court attorneys: don’t have sexual relations with your clients
While I’ve never considered it a gray area whether it was permissible for attorneys to have sexual relations with their domestic clients (except when representing one’s own spouse in a child custody or support case, which is merely a bad idea), some attorneys believe otherwise. On February 1, 2012, the South Carolina Supreme Court gave [...]
Convoluted attorney’s fees case results in Supreme Court reinstating the family court award
The February 1, 2012 Supreme Court decision Chisholm v. Chisholm caps decade-long litigation into the amount of attorneys fees Husband is required to pay Wife. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s majority opinion unwittingly implicates issue preservation concerns that might seem to require a prevailing party on appeal in the Court of Appeals to appeal a favorable [...]
Should a parent’s adultery be per se relevant to child custody?
I’m no social conservative but, contrary to many South Carolina family law attorneys and judges, I believe that a parent’s adultery is almost automatically relevant on the issue of child custody when such adultery demonstrates a spouse’s failure to honor his or her commitment of sexual fidelity to a spouse. South Carolina case law generally [...]
Forgoing divorce grounds corroboration based upon an “admission against interest”
To prevent spouses from making up grounds for a divorce that they are not entitled to, South Carolina requires “corroboration” of divorce grounds to prevent “collusive” divorce requests. However, one shouldn’t assume that an independent witness or documentary evidence is necessary to corroborate a fault divorce. Often an admission against interest will be sufficient to [...]
In disputes between biological parents and third-parties, we don’t want decisions to be based on “the best interests of the child”
A review of the excellent news reporting from Allyson Bird at the Charleston Post and Courier, regarding the adoption case involving two year-old, Veronica, her prospective adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, and her Cherokee birth father, Dusten Brown, demonstrates a misunderstanding when a “best interests of the child” standard is applicable. For custody cases [...]
Mullarkey opinion utilizes S.C. Code Ann. § 63-3-530(A)(30) to allow clarification of equitable distribution award
The January 25, 2012 Court of Appeals opinion in Mullarkey v. Mullarkey provides valuable guidance on how to obtain clarification of an unclear “final” final order (“final” in the sense that all allowable post-trial motions and appeals have already been resolved or the time period to file such motions or appeals has passed). Prior to [...]
Fuller opinion provides little guidance on affect of retirement on periodic alimony
Even though he was reversed, one has to admire the clarity of Judge R. Kinard Johnson, Jr.’s views on age, retirement and alimony. Judge Johnson was asked to determine Husband’s request to reduce his alimony based on Husband’s claim that his medical condition limited his ability to work. Husband was 67 years old at the [...]