Title 63, South Carolina Children's Code

In applying and construing this article, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.

This article applies to proceedings begun on or after the effective date of this article to establish a support order or determine parentage of a child or to register, recognize, enforce, or modify a prior support order, determination, or agreement, whenever issued or entered.

If any provision of this article or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provision…

A warrant of arrest may be substantially in the following form: "STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA } IN THE FAMILY COURT COUNTY OF } ORDER A petition for nonsupport having been filed against the above named respondent, __________, and a showing having been made to the Court that there exis…

If a respondent is arrested under a warrant of the court at a time when the court is not in session, he shall be taken to the most accessible magistrate and arraigned before him. The production of the warrant shall be evidence of the filing of proper information, and the magistra…

If the defendant in any proceeding brought under the provisions of Section 63-5-20, either before or after conviction, shall give bond, with one or more sureties approved by the clerk of the court, in the sum of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than three thousand dolla…

If the respondent be admitted to bond, the condition of the undertaking shall be for his future appearance according to the terms thereof, or in default of such appearance, that the surety will pay the clerk of court a specified sum as therein set forth. Instead of entering into …

(A) An obligor and an obligee in a child support or paternity action, whether judicial or administrative, shall provide the following information to the tribunal: (1) residence address; (2) mailing address; (3) telephone number; (4) social security number or the alien identificat…

(A) If copies of bills are furnished to the adverse party at least ten days before the date of an administrative or judicial hearing, the bills for testing for parentage and for prenatal and postnatal health care of the mother and child must be admitted as evidence without third …

(A) In any proceeding for the award of child support, there is a rebuttable presumption that the amount of the award which would result from the application of the guidelines required under Section 43-5-580(b) is the correct amount of child support to be awarded. A different amou…

An administrative or judicial order which includes a determination of paternity or a provision for child support shall set forth the social security numbers, or the alien identification numbers assigned to resident aliens who do not have social security numbers, of both parents.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a court or administrative order for child support or order for contempt for nonpayment of child support being enforced under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act may direct a noncustodial parent who is unemployed or underemployed and w…

(A) A verified voluntary acknowledgment of paternity creates a legal finding of paternity, subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment within the earlier of: (1) sixty days; or (2) the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child …

In the case of a respondent who shall have neglected or refused to obey an order for support, the court may suspend sentence or the execution of the warrant, as the case may be, and place him or her on probation under such conditions as the court may determine. No person, however…

The court may at any time where circumstances warrant it, after a hearing, revoke the probation of a respondent.

Fines collected pursuant to Sections 63-17-850, 63-17-2310(C), and 43-5-598(G) must be distributed as follows: (1) The Department of Social Services shall pay to the federal government the federal share of the amount collected. (2) The Department of Social Services shall use the …

(A) The following evidence is admissible at a hearing to determine paternity: (1) Results of genetic tests as described in Section 63-17-30 from physicians, agencies, hospitals, laboratories, or other qualified testing facilities, properly verified to show the chain of custody of…

(A) The federal government mandates that every state must have a centralized statewide disbursement unit which collects and disburses child support payments. The federal requirement will result in substantial changes in how spousal and child support payments are collected and dis…

(A) The Department of Social Services shall establish a State Disbursement Unit for the collection and disbursement of all child, spousal, or child and spousal support payments. (B) The State Disbursement Unit shall be operated and administered by either (1) the Child Support Enf…

(A)(1) Upon a finding that the putative father is the natural father of the child, the court must issue an order designating the putative father as the natural father and ordering that the birth certificate be amended to include the name of the father. (2) The order must: (a) set…

Notwithstanding Section 63-3-530 and any other provision of law, the Child Support Enforcement Division of the Department of Social Services, or its designee, also has jurisdiction to establish paternity, to establish and enforce child support, and to administratively change the …

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Arrearage" means amounts of past-due and unpaid monthly support obligations established by court or administrative order. (2) "Costs of collections" means costs as provided for in Section 63-3-370 in addition to…

The director shall issue a notice of financial responsibility to an obligor who owes a child support debt or who is responsible for the support of a child on whose behalf the custodian of that child is receiving support enforcement services from the division pursuant to Title IV-…

(A) The division shall serve a notice of financial responsibility on the obligor not less than thirty days before the date stated in the notice for the negotiation conference: (1) in the manner prescribed for service of process in a civil action; or (2) by an employee appointed b…

(A) An obligor who has been served with a notice of financial responsibility pursuant to Section 63-17-740 and who does not request a hearing pursuant to Section 63-17-780 shall appear at the time and location stated in the notice for a negotiation conference or shall reschedule …

(A) If an obligor fails to appear for a negotiation conference scheduled in the notice of financial responsibility or fails to reschedule the negotiation conference before the date and time stated in the notice of financial responsibility or if the obligor fails to serve the divi…

(A) A copy of an order of financial responsibility or a consent order issued by the division must be sent by the division by first class mail to the obligor or the obligor's attorney of record and to the custodial parent. (B) A consent order and an order of default shall continue…

(A) An obligor who objects to a part of the notice of financial responsibility, within thirty days of receipt of the notice, shall make a written request for a court hearing to the division. The request must be served upon the division by certified mail or in the same manner as a…

(A) The division may establish paternity of a child in the course of a negotiation conference held pursuant to Section 63-17-750 based upon an application for services or receipt of services by the custodian pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. Service on the allege…

(A) If the testimony and other supplementary evidence presented at the negotiation conference demonstrate a reasonable probability that the alleged father had sexual intercourse with the child's mother during the probable time of the child's conception or if the evidence shows a …

The division shall appoint an expert who is qualified in examining genetic markers to conduct any genetic test. If the issue of paternity is referred to the Family Court, the expert's completed and certified report of the results and conclusions of a genetic test is admissible as…

(A) The division may establish all duties of support including the duty to pay any arrearage and may enforce duties of support from an obligor pursuant to this article if that action is requested by an agency of another state which is operating under Title IV-D of the federal Soc…

(A) At any time after the entry of a consent order or an order for default under this article or an order of the court the division may issue a notice of financial responsibility to an obligor requesting the modification of an existing order issued pursuant to this article or an …

In cases in which support is subject to an assignment or a requirement to pay through any state disbursement unit which may be established, the division or its designee may direct the obligor or the payor to change the payee to the appropriate government entity. The division shal…

When necessary in the discharge of the duties of the department to establish, modify, or enforce a child support order, the department may issue an administrative subpoena or subpoena duces tecum to a state, county, or local agency, board or commission, or to any private entity o…