Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

When to file a contested marital dissolution action before negotiating and when not to request a temporary hearing when filing a contested family court case

Posted Sunday, July 4th, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Child Custody, Child Support, Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Family Court Procedure, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific

It is my experience that most family law attorneys in South Carolina reflexively file a motion for temporary relief when filing a contested family court

Can miscarriage expenses be considered an incident of child support?

Posted Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Attorney's Fees, Child Support, Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Jurisprudence, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

Today’s Court of Appeals opinion in Susan R. v. Donald R., 389 S.C. 107, 697 S.E.2d 634 (Ct. App. 2010), affirmed, with one seemingly insignificant modification,

Have real estate prices really bottomed out?

Posted Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Law and Culture, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to General Public

Practicing family law actually provides some, imprecise, insights into the state of the economy.  For example, there have been periods the past two years when

Court of Appeals notes it’s unlikely parents agree to their habitually intoxicated spouse having custody of their children

Posted Friday, May 28th, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Divorce and Marriage, Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

A couple of interesting things are happening in yesterday’s Court of Appeals opinion in Bodkin v. Bodkin, 388 S.C. 203, 694 S.E.2d 230 (2010), which, with one

Court of Appeals confirms that severance pay that is not tied to an agreement not to compete is marital property

Posted Monday, May 3rd, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Attorney's Fees, Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Family Court Procedure, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

When a spouse becomes terminated in the midst of marital litigation there are frequent disputes whether any severance should be treated as income to the

Supreme Court reaffirms that professional goodwill is not marital asset; finds abuse of discretion in family court’s alimony award but provides no explanation to justify its modified award

Posted Monday, January 11th, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Attorney's Fees, Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

Today’s Supreme Court opinion in Dickert v. Dickert, 387 S.C. 1, 691 S.E.2d 448 (2010), resolved interesting issues of equitable distribution and alimony.  However on the

Supreme Court clarifies equitable distribution in a long-term marriage and slowly moves South Carolina to a community property state status

Posted Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Equitable Distribution/Property Division, South Carolina Appellate Decisions

The January 4, 2010 Supreme Court opinion in Dawkins v. Dawkins, 386 S.C. 169, 687 S.E.2d 52 (2010) was explicitly intended to clarify for the bench

Overusing appraisers in valuing marital property

Posted Thursday, November 5th, 2009 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

In equitably dividing marital property the South Carolina family court judge has three tasks: 1) identifying which property of the parties is “marital” and which

Can the logic justifying property division and alimony in South Carolina be reconciled (or if x=y, why doesn’t -x=-y)?

Posted Thursday, August 27th, 2009 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Divorce and Marriage, Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific

South Carolina is not a community property state (in community property states all marital property is divided equally).  However, in practice, with long-term marriages the

Transmutation in an economic downturn

Posted Thursday, June 18th, 2009 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Equitable Distribution/Property Division, Law and Culture, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

In the time before housing prices collapsed it was easy to get many separating homeowners’ property divided.  They would either sell their home and divide