Title 63, South Carolina Children's Code

(A) In the manner and form prescribed by the Child Support Enforcement Division, a financial institution, as defined in Section 63-17-2310(A)(2), on a quarterly basis, shall provide the division or its designee information on account holders for use in the establishment, enforcem…

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of federal or state law, a financial institution, as defined in Section 63-17-2310(A)(2), is not liable to a person for disclosure of information to the Department of Social Services, its designee, or the department's or designee's employee…

(A) The Department of Social Services shall provide consumer credit reporting agencies an automated monthly report of obligors in Title IV-D cases who have an arrearage in an amount of one thousand dollars or greater. (B) The department shall establish procedures for notice and a…

A child support obligation which is unpaid in an amount equal to or greater than one thousand dollars, as of the date on which it was due, is a lien in favor of the obligee in an amount sufficient to satisfy unpaid child support, whether the amount due is a fixed sum or is accrui…

When the division determines that child support is unpaid in an amount equal to or greater than one thousand dollars, it shall send written notice to the obligor by first-class mail to the obligor's last known address, as filed with the tribunal pursuant to Section 63-17-450. The…

(A)(1) The division shall file notice of a lien with respect to real property with the register of deeds for any county in the State where the obligor owns property. The social security number, or the alien identification number assigned to a resident alien who does not have a so…

(A) If an obligor against whom a lien has arisen and has been perfected under Section 63-17-2730 neglects or refuses to pay the sum due after the expiration of the thirty-day notice period specified in Section 63-17-2720, the division may collect the unpaid child support and levy…

The division shall send timely written notice to the obligor by first-class mail of any action taken to perfect a lien, execute a levy, or seize any property. The notice shall specify the amount due, the steps to be followed to release the property so placed under lien, levied, o…

A person aggrieved by a determination of the division pursuant to Section 63-17-2720, upon exhaustion of the procedures for administrative review, may seek judicial review in the court where the order or judgment was issued or registered. Commencement of the review shall not stay…

A child support enforcement agency in a jurisdiction outside this State may request the division to enforce a child support order issued by a court or administrative agency in another jurisdiction or a lien arising under the law of another jurisdiction. The order or lien must be …

The division is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations, if necessary, to implement the provision of this section.

This article may be cited as the "Uniform Interstate Family Support Act".

In this article: (1) "Child" means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent. (2) "Child-support or…

(A) For the purposes of continuing exclusive jurisdiction under this article, the tribunals of this State have concurrent jurisdiction to establish, modify, and enforce child support in cases being administered pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. (B) The family cou…

(A) Remedies provided by this article are cumulative and do not affect the availability of remedies under other law or the recognition of a foreign support order on the basis of comity. (B) This article does not: (1) provide the exclusive method of establishing or enforcing a sup…

(A) A tribunal of this State shall apply Parts I through VI and, as applicable, Part VII, to a support proceeding involving: (1) a foreign support order; (2) a foreign tribunal; or (3) an obligee, obligor, or child residing in a foreign country. (B) A tribunal of this State that …

(A) As soon as practicable after an action has been commenced, the court, upon its motion or that of an interested party, may order the natural mother, the putative father, and the child to submit to genetic tests such as red blood cell antigen testing, human leukocyte antigen (H…

(A) In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of this State may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual's guardian or conservator if: (1) the individual is personally served with…

Personal jurisdiction acquired by a tribunal of this State in a proceeding under this article or other law of this State relating to a support order continues as long as a tribunal of this State has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its order or continuing jurisdiction…

Under this article, a tribunal of this State may serve as an initiating tribunal to forward proceedings to a tribunal of another state and as a responding tribunal for proceedings initiated in another state or a foreign country.

(A) A tribunal of this State may exercise jurisdiction to establish a support order if the petition or comparable pleading is filed after a pleading is filed in another state or a foreign country only if: (1) the petition or comparable pleading in this State is filed before the e…

(A) A tribunal of this State that has issued a child-support order consistent with the law of this State has and shall exercise continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its child-support order if the order is the controlling order and: (1) at the time of the filing of a reque…

(A) A tribunal of this State that has issued a child-support order consistent with the law of this State may serve as an initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce: (1) the order if the order is the controlling order and has not been modified by a tribu…

(A) If a proceeding is brought under this article and only one tribunal has issued a child-support order, the order of that tribunal controls and must be recognized. (B) If a proceeding is brought under this article, and two or more child-support orders have been issued by tribun…

In responding to registrations or petitions for enforcement of two or more child-support orders in effect at the same time with regard to the same obligor and different individual obligees, at least one of which was issued by a tribunal of another state or a foreign country, a tr…

A tribunal of this State shall credit amounts collected for a particular period pursuant to any child-support order against the amounts owed for the same period under any other child-support order for support of the same child issued by a tribunal of this or another state or a fo…

The family court has the authority to enforce the provisions of any decree, judgment, or order regarding child support of a court of this State, including cases with jurisdiction based on the revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, provided that personal jurisdicti…

A tribunal of this State exercising personal jurisdiction over a nonresident in a proceeding under this article, under other laws of this State relating to a support order, or recognizing a foreign support order may receive evidence from outside this State pursuant to Section 63-…

(A) A tribunal of this State issuing a spousal-support order consistent with the law of this State has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify the spousal-support order throughout the existence of the support obligation. (B) A tribunal of this State may not modify a spousal-…

Any family court has jurisdiction and authority to enforce or modify an order or decree of any other court respecting support of wife or children subject to the limitations contained in Section 63-17-310, custody of children and visitation upon an order from the court of original…

(A) Except as otherwise provided in this article, this part applies to all proceedings under this article. (B) An individual petitioner or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this article by filing a petition in an initiating tribunal for forwa…

A minor parent, or a guardian or other legal representative of a minor parent, may maintain a proceeding on behalf of or for the benefit of the minor's child.

Except as otherwise provided in this article, a responding tribunal of this State shall: (1) apply the procedural and substantive law generally applicable to similar proceedings originating in this State and may exercise all powers and provide all remedies available in those proc…

(A) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this article, an initiating tribunal of this State shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents: (1) to the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement agency in the responding state; or (2) if the identity o…

(A) A biological father of a child has a duty to pay the mother of the child the following financial obligations beginning with the date of conception: (1) child support payment obligations in an amount determined pursuant to Section 63-17-470; (2) fifty percent of the mother's p…

(A) When a responding tribunal of this State receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to Section 63-17-3210(B), it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the petitioner where and when it was filed. (B) A resp…

If a petition or comparable pleading is received by an inappropriate tribunal of this State, the tribunal shall forward the pleading and accompanying documents to an appropriate tribunal of this State or another state and notify the petitioner where and when the pleading was sent…

(A) In a proceeding under this article, a support enforcement agency of this State, upon request: (1) shall provide services to a petitioner residing in a state; (2) shall provide services to a petitioner requesting services through a central authority of a foreign country as des…

(A) If the Attorney General determines that the support enforcement agency is neglecting or refusing to provide services to an individual, the Attorney General may order the agency to perform its duties under this article or may provide those services directly to the individual. …

An individual may employ private counsel to represent the individual in proceedings authorized by this article.

The court shall issue, upon motion of either party, a temporary order requiring the payment of child support pending an administrative or judicial determination of parentage if: (1) the defendant has signed a verified voluntary acknowledgment of paternity which complies with the …

(A) The Department of Social Services is the state information agency under this article. (B) The state information agency shall: (1) compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the tribunals in this State which have jurisdiction under this article and any suppor…

(A) In a proceeding under this article, a petitioner seeking to establish a support order, to determine parentage of a child, or to register and modify a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country must file a petition. Unless otherwise ordered under Section…

If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of specific identifying information, that information must be sealed and may not be disclosed to the other party or the public. A…

(A) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs. (B) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of this State may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurr…

(A) Participation by a petitioner in a proceeding under this article before a responding tribunal, whether in person, by private attorney, or through services provided by the support enforcement agency, does not confer personal jurisdiction over the petitioner in another proceedi…