Should there be automatic de novo review of temporary custody and support orders?
January 30, 2014
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
Demanding UCCJEA submissions before filing motions to dismiss child custody cases
August 29, 2013
Multi-state child custody actions often get filed where it is unclear if, and how, the state where the action is filed has subject matter jurisdiction
July 12, 2013
Sometimes, in contested custody cases, parents seek more time with the children than they actually want or can realistically handle. The motivation can be malevolent:
United States Supreme Court reverses on South Carolina Indian Adoption case
June 25, 2013
In a highly anticipated case that generated much local notoriety, and in which some of my friends and colleagues participated, the United States Supreme Court
When abuse and neglect and private custody cases overlap
March 21, 2013
Not infrequently a claim of abuse or neglect against one parent will lead another parent to seek custody. Other times a private custody case will
February 12, 2013
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?
January 24, 2013
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
When a child’s mental health professional makes a guardian ad litem unnecessary
January 17, 2013
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,
