I sometimes think there is some hidden law titled, “The South Carolina Family Law Attorney Full Employment Act,” which requires family court judges to issue child-related restraining orders so vague that, in theory, an infinite number of attorneys could spend an infinite amount of time arguing about whether that restraint has been violated. Such is [...]
I will be speaking at two upcoming Continuing Legal Education programs. On January 27, 2012 I will be moderating and speaking at the South Carolina Bar’s annual guardian ad litem training in Columbia (and via satellite at various locations throughout the state). My topic will be “Religion as a Child Custody Issue.” The other topics [...]
Two of my frequent complaints are that South Carolina family law attorneys don’t appeal enough of the decisions they believe are unjust and that the South Carolina appellate courts don’t publish enough of their family court decisions. As a result of these two factors, the development of family law in South Carolina fails to [...]
The December 21, 2011 Court of Appeals opinion in Sanders v. Sanders demonstrates the continuing confused jurisprudence regarding transmutation of non marital assets. It also highlights the problems that result when the trial court is provided insufficient information from the parties to make a complete decision. Sanders involved a cross appeal of equitable distribution issues stemming from [...]
In the December 16, 2011 opinion in SCDSS v. Mother and Father, the Court of Appeals reversed a family court permanency planning order requiring the Department of Social Services (DSS) to bring a termination of parental rights (TPR) action against Mother and instead ordered the matter remanded for a reunification plan. This case started when [...]
In South Carolina, child support, child custody and permanent periodic alimony can all be modified upon a showing of “substantial change of circumstances.” However, there is an exception to this general principle: if the change of circumstances was anticipated at the time of the previous final order, then the change of circumstances is not a [...]
In the December 14, 2011 opinion in Lewin v. Lewin (in which I represented the losing appellant, though I was not his trial counsel), the Court of Appeals affirmed multiple challenges Father brought to the lower court’s award of $18,955 in fees and costs to Mother. Lewin represents an interesting fact pattern in that the parties [...]
The first of the fifteen factors set forth in South Carolina Code Section 20-3-620 regarding the division of marital property is “the duration of the marriage together with the ages of the parties at the time of the marriage and at the time of the divorce or separate maintenance or other marital action between the [...]
