Blog

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.

Very few divorces go to trial. But in South Carolina, settling your case still means appearing before a judge — here's how works and how these cases really end.

Think your spouse is reading your texts? Five things to check on your iPhone, three ways to lock it down, and why snooping back is a felony in South Carolina.

  What South Carolina law actually does with the company you built: classification, valuation, goodwill, and how the other spouse is usually paid. Clients who own a closely held business, or whose spouse does, often arrive at the first meeting with one of two assumptions. The owner assumes the ...

Five things South Carolina clients often get wrong about divorce — parenting time, adultery, marital property, 50/50 splits, and going without a lawyer. Divorce is not an everyday occurrence for most people. Because of that, clients usually arrive with firm ideas about how their case will unfold — ideas picked up from television, from social media, or from a friend or family member who went through a divorce somewhere else. Some of those ideas are close to right. Many are not ...

At Stevens Family Law, we've always believed that great outcomes come from a great team, not a single attorney working in isolation. As we recently shared, our attorneys and staff collaborate closely, sharing insight and stepping in for one another so that clients always have more than one person...

Choosing a family law attorney is not like hiring for an ordinary legal matter. The people who come to our firm are often facing the most difficult and personal chapters of their lives – a divorce, a custody dispute, a decision that will shape their family's future for years to come. In those mom...