Hammer holds party cannot collaterally attack family court order in circuit court

Posted Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Family Court Procedure, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

The June 6, 2012 Court of Appeals opinion in Hammer v. Hammer, 399 S.C. 100, 730 S.E.2d 874 (Ct. App. 2012), holds what I thought was obvious: one cannot collaterally attack a family court order in circuit court.

The Hammers entered a partial agreement resolving some equitable distribution issues in May 2008.  That agreement was made a family court order that same month.  In August 2009 the family court approved an agreement resolving the remaining issues and reaffirming the May 2008 order.

Thereafter, Mr. Hammer made repeated challenges to the May 2008 agreement.  Three times he filed a motion in family court to set aside that order.  Three times the family court rebuffed him. Eventually he filed a declaratory judgment action in circuit court, seeking to have the family court order declared void ab initio.  Mrs. Hammer filed an response, including a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.  The circuit court found it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to declare the family court order void.  Mr. Hammer appealed.

The Court of Appeals rejected Mr. Hammer’s contention that provisions of South Carolina’s Declaratory Judgment Act, § 15-53-10, et seq., gave the circuit court authority to determine the validity of family court orders.  It further affirmed the circuit court’s finding that the family court had exclusive subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to sections 20-3-690 and 63-3-530 of the South Carolina Code.

One thought on Hammer holds party cannot collaterally attack family court order in circuit court

  1. MJ Goodwin says:

    I suppose nothing is “obvious” to a client who has enough money to bring this sort of thing? These actions make me question a lot of things. But I agree, that was obvious.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share

Subscribe

Archives

Put Mr. Forman’s experience, knowledge, and dedication to your service for any of your South Carolina family law needs.