Spiers v. Ballou is an unpublished October 2002 opinion from the South Carolina Court of Appeals.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.
De Facto Custodian rights are more valuable than Grandparent Rights
Given the phone calls I receive from prospective clients, it appears that many more folks are aware of the concept of grandparent rights
The November 10, 2021, Supreme Court opinion in Swicegood v. Thompson remedies the obvious error in the Court of Appeals decision in Swicegood
Pitfalls in cooperating with DSS child abuse investigations
Parents routinely contact me when they are in the midst of a DSS investigation into their potential abuse or neglect of their child.
