November 2012

Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

November 30th, 2012

Perhaps he has a 2,000 mile long penis?^{<a id="ref1" href="#1">[1]</a>}

A question I am frequently and increasingly being asked by my colleagues is whether modern uses of technology to engage in sexual banter can constitute adultery as a ground for divorce in South Carolina.  Sexting, instant messaging, emailing, online role playing games and constant or lengthy phone calls (often assumed to be “phone sex”) have […]

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South Carolina Specific

November 27th, 2012

Filing second, serving first

Before 2004, when SCRCP 3(a), was revised, it was strategically advantageous to serve a family court complaint as soon as it was filed.  This was because, up until 2004, SCRCP 3(a) stated that an action was “commenced” when a summons and complaint was served. Because of this some defendants or their attorneys, if aware that […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

November 21st, 2012

Supreme Court holds that family court temporary order is never automatically stayed by appeal

In the November 21, 2012 opinion of Terry v. Terry, 400 S.C. 453, 734 S.E.2d 646 (2012) the South Carolina Supreme Court clarifies the effect of filing a notice of appeal on the enforcement of temporary orders.  Here the family court issued a temporary order requiring Husband to vacate the marital home.  Husband refused to do so […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

November 21st, 2012

South Carolina Supreme Court promulgates new rules for family court temporary hearings and docketing trials

In the November 21, 2012 advance sheet, the South Carolina Supreme Court promulgated new rules regarding family court temporary hearings (pages 5-6) and docketing of trials (page 9).  The temporary hearing rule is effective immediately for all newly filed motions.  The docketing rule goes into effect for all cases set on or after January 7, […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

November 21st, 2012

South Carolina Supreme Court September 2012 case of the month fizzles into unpublished dud

Ex parte: Belinda Davis-Branch. In re: Larry Solomon v. Betty Jean Solomon was the South Carolina Supreme Court’s September 2012 “Case of the Month.”  Had the Supreme Court affirmed the family court’s ruling–which I was almost certain it wouldn’t–it might have revolutionized family law attorney fee collection practice in South Carolina and made it much […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

November 14th, 2012

<i>Lewis</i> affirms child custody but remands child support based on improper imputation of husbands’s income

The November 14, 2012 Court of Appeals opinion in Lewis v. Lewis, 400 S.C. 354, 734 S.E.2d 322 (Ct. App. 2012), provides some guidance on imputing income to unemployed spouses and parents and deciding whether to award joint custody. In Lewis, the family court denied Husband’s request for joint custody and imputed monthly income to him of […]

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