June 16, 2012
I spent Thursday evening at Susan Synter’s going-away party. It was attended by a bunch of newly licensed attorneys practicing family law, many of whom
Inter-spousal legal claims that survive the marital dissolution action
June 7, 2012
Except when explicitly reserved, most inter-spousal claims do not survive a divorce or final order of separate maintenance. If one spouse owes the other money
Visitation cases have a different focus than custody cases
June 7, 2012
Typically parents retain me to handle visitation cases, rather than seeking custody, when they have not had much recent contact with their child. Often such
June 6, 2012
Last week, in Tillman v. Oakes, 398 S.C. 245, 728 S.E.2d 45 (Ct. App. 2012), the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a family court custody
Hammer holds party cannot collaterally attack family court order in circuit court
June 6, 2012
The June 6, 2012 Court of Appeals opinion in Hammer v. Hammer, 399 S.C. 100, 730 S.E.2d 874 (Ct. App. 2012), holds what I thought was
The perils of witness-drafted affidavits
June 1, 2012
Having witnesses draft their own affidavits is a time and money saving method of preparing for family court hearings. Further having witnesses rather than the
The limits of South Carolina Family Court Rule 7
June 1, 2012
South Carolina Family Court Rule 7 creates various evidentiary exceptions to the general rules of hearsay. Some family law attorneys read this rule to allow
