Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

May 13th, 2026

Court of Appeals holds magistrate courts have jurisdiction to hear spouses’ requests for restraining orders

On May 13, 2026, the South Carolina Court of Appeals, in the case of Major v. Major, held that the magistrate courts have jurisdiction to hear spouses’ requests for restraining orders. In Major, Wife sought a restraining order in magistrate court against Husband pursuant to section 16-3-1750 of the South Carolina Code (2015) (the Harassment and Stalking Statute) for […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

May 13th, 2026

South Carolina Supreme Court holds results of a penile plethysmograph (PPG) test are inadmissible as unreliable

In 2024, the South Carolina Court of Appeals, in the case of In the Matter of Shawn T. Daily, 443 S.C. 557, 905 S.E.2d 310 (Ct. App. 2024), held that the results of a penile plethysmograph (PPG) test are inadmissible as unreliable.  Blogging about Daily at the time, I noted that such tests were often used in family court, […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

April 30th, 2026

Supreme Court extends deadline to file post-trial motions

On April 30, 2026, rule changes proposed by the South Carolina Supreme Court went into effect. These rule changes extend the deadline to file post-trial motions under numerous South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure from ten days after receiving written notice of the entry of the judgment to twenty days. For family court attorneys, the relevant rule […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

April 28th, 2026

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face

Discussing a braggadocios future opponent’s ideas on how to he was going to defeat the heretofore undefeated Mike Tyson, Tyson noted, “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Tyson’s point was that people can plan for things they have never encountered (in this case Mike Tyson’s strength and skill) but those […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

April 25th, 2026

If the custody/visitation status quo is satisfactory, and better than the current custody order, be cautious about filing to affirm it

I regularly hear from potential clients who want to seek or modify custody when they are happy with the actual status quo on custodial time. These potential clients either do not have a custody order or are living under a custody order that grants them less time or control than they are actually exercising. They […]

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Of Interest to Family Court Litigants

April 24th, 2026

A cross-examination question for every custody witness

Continuing with the theme of my repeated violations of the Fourth Commandment of Irving Younger’s Ten Commandments of Cross Examination—“Don’t ask a question to which you do not know the answer”—is a question one should almost always ask on cross examination in a custody or visitation case. That question is, “do you have anything good to […]

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