Blog

A South Carolina divorce takes months, and the mortgage is still due on the first. What the Family Court can order one spouse to pay the other while the case is pending — and why you have to ask for it.

A divorce decree is a court order, and Family Court can enforce it. How contempt works for unpaid support and ignored property terms, and what happens if someone skips the hearing.

When a parent's income drops on purpose, a South Carolina court can set support on what they could earn. How imputed income works, and how an honest job loss differs.

The temporary hearing sets the rules for the months ahead: custody, support, the house. What it can decide, how it works under the 2025 rule, and why it isn't final.

Your spouse emptied the joint account. The bank may have allowed it, but Family Court decides who keeps it. What SC law says, and the first 24 hours.

The days right after divorce papers arrive are when people do the most damage to their own case. The angry text, the moved money, the post, and what to do instead.

One spouse handles the money, and the other one needs a lawyer. South Carolina courts can order a fee award while the case is still going — what the judge weighs, and what such an award realistically covers.

Your agreement says you get half the 401(k), and four months later the money has not moved. The separate document that actually divides a retirement account — and the tax mistake that costs people the most.

Best interest of the child" sounds like it means whatever the judge thinks. In South Carolina it is a statute with 17 items on it. What is on the list, what is not, and which factors most cases actually turn on.

Periodic alimony can be modified, and it can end. A lump sum cannot be reduced — and cannot be raised either. Both halves of the trade, plus the tax rule that changed the math.

What you tell your lawyer is protected broadly. What you file with the Family Court usually is not — plus what a judge weighs before sealing a file.

Deciding what happens to the marital home is often one of the hardest parts of divorce. This guest post from Certified Divorce Real Estate Expert Christi Poole Nix explains why equity is rarely a simple calculation, why online home values can mislead, and what homeowners should understand about keeping, refinancing, or selling the house before a settlement is signed.

You cannot make your spouse take a drug test. You ask the court — and before you do, understand that the order will most likely apply to both of you.

Usually nothing stops you from changing the locks. That is not the same as it being a good idea — and what a temporary hearing decides instead.

The school year exposed a custody schedule that no longer works. What South Carolina requires to modify a custody order, and what usually isn't enough on its own.

Moving out doesn’t give away your interest in the house — South Carolina measures marital property from the filing date. But it can cost you three other things nobody explains.

Child support in South Carolina isn’t a percentage of one paycheck. What goes into the worksheet, the four adjustments that change the number, and why 110 overnights a year matters.

There's no form that makes you separated in South Carolina, and no legal separation to file for. What the one-year ground requires, and why the year itself is where the decisions get made.

Stevens Family Law welcomes attorney Krystal L. Watson, bringing nearly two decades of family law, probate, and civil litigation experience to our clients.

Texts, emails, and social media are often the strongest evidence in a South Carolina divorce or custody case — and the fastest way to damage your own. What helps, what hurts, and what is illegal.

South Carolina law gives the mother sole custody of a child born outside marriage until a court orders otherwise. Establishing paternity doesn't change that by itself — it gives a father the right to ask. Here's how paternity gets established, what it triggers financially, and how custody is decided.

South Carolina divides marital property fairly — not the same thing as equally. What counts as marital, what stays yours, and how separate property gets lost.