On April 30, 2026, rule changes proposed by the South Carolina Supreme Court went into effect. These rule changes extend the deadline to file post-trial motions under numerous South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure from ten days after receiving written notice of the entry of the judgment to twenty days.
For family court attorneys, the relevant rule change is Rule 59(e), SCRCP. Having twenty days, rather than ten days, to contemplate filing and then drafting and serving a motion to alter or amend is very beneficial. Often, I would be contacted about an appeal or post-trial motion and not have sufficient time to investigate whether a Rule 59(e) motion should be brought or even needed to be brought to preserve issues for appeal. An extra ten days allows for more time to obtain a transcript and review trial exhibits in order to determine whether to file a post-trial motion or proceed directly to appeal.
This same day the Supreme Court removed the first sentence from the prior version of Rule 6(g), SCRADR. Now parties in family court no longer need to mediate three hours before an impasse can be declared.
