Spiers v. Ballou is an unpublished October 2002 opinion from the South Carolina Court of Appeals. I was retained by the estate of a deceased ex-husband to be co-counsel on a cross appeal (both parties appealed) of the divorce order. The issues on appeal were property division and attorney’s fees.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the family court’s award of $50,000.00 in attorney’s fees to ex-husband’s estate, finding that ex-wife’s unreasonable positions on alimony and property division and her conduct during litigation warranted an award of substantial fees. It further affirmed the family court’s decision to award the ex-husband’s estate one half of the appreciation in ex-wife’s home during the time period the parties were married based on his significant contributions to the maintenance of that home.
Mr. Spiers’ estate would not have brought the cross appeal had his ex-wife not appealed and considered the resulting affirmance a victory.
It’s not easy to repudiate an executed South Carolina domestic relations agreement
Multiple times every year—three times in the past week—I hear from a South Carolina family court litigant who wishes to repudiate an agreement
On October 1, 2025, South Carolina began implementing a new version of Rule 21, SCRFC, addressing the procedures for family court temporary hearings.
What can be addressed in a reconciliation agreement?
I have long thought that reconciliation agreements (also called postnuptial agreements) were of questionable validity. In prenuptial agreements, unmarried parties intend to enter
