January 2013

Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

January 30th, 2013

Is there ever sufficient evidence of “continued cohabitation” to terminate alimony?

I occasionally get telephone calls from men whose ex-wife’s are receiving alimony but also appear to be living with a boyfriend.  They want to know if they can terminate alimony on that basis.  I am never optimistic. In 2002, the South Carolina legislature amended S.C. Code § 20-3-150 to define the “continued cohabitation” necessary to terminate […]

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Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

January 30th, 2013

All that hard work….

Some of the more cryptic opinions to come out of the South Carolina Supreme Court simply state “We granted a writ of certiorari to review the court of appeals’ decision in [case name]. We now dismiss the writ as improvidently granted.” Between the request for certiorari and such brief dismissals, the petitioner and his or […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

January 30th, 2013

News and events

My newest mentee, Audrey R. Brown, has her website up here. Audrey is a graduate of George Mason University School of Law and an avid roller derby enthusiast–and a member of the Lowcountry Highrollers (she’s currently in the recreational league as she concentrates on developing her law practice).  Her practice focuses on family law and […]

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South Carolina Specific

January 25th, 2013

Caught between Scylla and Charybdis

Two years ago, in  In the Matter of Anonymous Member of the South Carolina Bar, 392 S.C. 328, 709 S.E.2d 633 (2011), an attorney was issued a letter of caution for sending an uncivil email that she alleged was sent in response to numerous uncivil communications she had received from opposing counsel.  Since the ethics […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

January 24th, 2013

What’s so bad about split custody?

While our family court jurisdictional statute, S.C. Code § 63-3-530(42), allows judges “to order joint or divided custody where the court finds it is in the best interests of the child,” South Carolina case law looks unfavorable on splitting custody of children. See e.g., Patel v. Patel, 359 S.C. 515, 599 S.E.2d 114, 121 (2004) […]

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Not South Carolina Specific

January 17th, 2013

When a child’s mental health professional makes a guardian <i>ad litem</i> unnecessary

South Carolina Code §63-3-810(A)(1) allows the family court to appoint a guardian ad litem in a private custody case when “without a guardian ad litem, the court will likely not be fully informed about the facts of the case and there is a substantial dispute which necessitates a guardian ad litem.”  Thus attorneys routinely consent […]

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