Unpublished Court of Appeals opinion reflects South Carolina’s continuing antiquated view of gender and alimony

Posted Wednesday, March 5th, 2014 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Alimony/Spousal Support, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

South Carolina family law’s approach to alimony continues to reflect an antiquated view of gender roles.  South Carolina is the only state in which a

Should there be automatic de novo review of temporary custody and support orders?

Posted Thursday, January 30th, 2014 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Family Court Procedure, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific

I’ve previously complained that South Carolina’s handling of family court temporary hearings violate due process.  This is because allowing such hearings to proceed on affidavits

The Burgess opinion and “The End of Men”

Posted Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Jurisprudence, Law and Culture, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to General Public

Every published opinion tells a story and the January 15, 2014 Court of Appeals opinion in Burgess v. Burgess, 753 S.E.2d 566 (S.C. App. 2014), tells

2013 again provides a dearth of published family law opinions

Posted Friday, January 3rd, 2014 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

There are literally hundreds of commonplace but unresolved family law issues in South Carolina.  Yet, at the rate our appellate courts issue published family law

When does a judge’s ruling become a valid order?

Posted Wednesday, October 9th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Jurisprudence, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific

Early in my family court career I used to debate with my colleagues as to when a family judge’s ruling became valid. The (super-)majority view

Why does South Carolina require court proceedings and a guardian ad litem for parents to change a child’s name by agreement?

Posted Friday, July 12th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Specific

I occasionally get calls from folks wanting to change their child’s name.  Often both parents agree on the name change.  Yet South Carolina not only

South Carolina Supreme Court looks to state constitution’s right to privacy in finding due process requires judicial review of lifetime electronic monitoring of sex offenders

Posted Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific

South Carolina is one of the few states with an explicit right to privacy within the state constitution. S.C. Const. art. I, §10. One of my

No lesson learned two years after the spanking

Posted Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Contempt/Enforcement of Orders, Family Court Procedure, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Specific

Two years after the United States Supreme Court reversed the South Carolina Supreme Court in Turner v. Rodgers, 131 S.Ct. 2507 (2011), I see no

Custody to the bigger breeder

Posted Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Jurisprudence, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Specific

Unbeknownst to me until last week, on December 2, 2012 the South Carolina Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case of Moeller v. Moeller, 394

What’s so bad about split custody?

Posted Thursday, January 24th, 2013 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Jurisprudence, Not South Carolina Specific, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys

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

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