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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Family Court Procedure’
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 [...]
Roesler attempts to clarify family court default
I’ve often considered writing a blog simply listing “100 things I don’t know about family law.” The concept is that after eighteen years practicing family law–and I do mean “practice” because much of my free time is spent reading, thinking and writing about family law–there are still important issues in family law that I have [...]
Court of Appeals’ opinion applies Latimer factors to initial custody determination
Today’s South Carolina Court of Appeals opinion in McComb v. Conard, 394 S.C. 416, 715 S.E.2d 662 (Ct. App. 2011), approved the family court’s use of the relocation factors first set forth in Latimer v. Farmer, 360 S.C. 375, 602 S.E.2d 32 (2004) in a case involving an initial custody determination. McComb began when mother attempted to [...]
Stipulating to family court discovery
Unlike circuit court, there in no automatic discovery in South Carolina’s family court. See Rule 25, SCFCR. Most of the time, discovery is ordered at the first temporary hearing. Often parties (well, the parties’ attorneys) wish to engage in discovery without having a temporary hearing or prior to a temporary hearing. Other times, the temporary order [...]
Court of Appeals holds ex-wife’s alimony claim possibly not time barred due to ex-husband’s violence and threats
In the July 20, 2011 decision in Ross v. Ross, 394 S.C. 261, 715 S.E.2d 359 (Ct. App. 2011), the Court of Appeals remanded the issue of whether the Wife’s petition for alimony could defeat a claim of untimeliness due to her Husband’s alleged pattern of violence and threats of violence towards her. The Court of [...]
Disloyal collegiality in the prosecution and non prosecution of motions to compel
South Carolina attorneys are expected to be collegial. Part of that collegiality is a reluctance to file motions to compel discovery responses and a frequent acceptance of discovery responses that are incomplete or evasive. Another part of that collegiality is a general understanding that a demand for fees as part of a motion to compel [...]
Court of Appeals holds Rule 59(e) motion does not authorize family court to modify final order, sua sponte, in manner not requested by the moving party
The June 29, 2011 Court of Appeals opinion in Wannamaker v. Wannamaker, 719 S.E.2d 261 (S.C. App. 2011) (refiled August 11, 2011 with a slightly altered analysis of the equitable distribution issue) involved three issues, two of which were not novel. The unnovel issues: In a sixteen year marriage, where the supported spouse earns $30k per year [...]