Title 20, Domestic Relations

Any attorney whose client has been awarded an attorney fee by the family court may petition the family court for the circuit in which the order was filed to enforce the payment of such fee.

(A) In proceedings for divorce from the bonds of matrimony, and in actions for separate maintenance and support, the court may grant alimony or separate maintenance and support in such amounts and for such term as the court considers appropriate as from the circumstances of the p…

A marriage that would otherwise be lawful that is declared void ab initio by reason of fraud, does not relieve the party committing the fraud of the duty to provide spousal support that would have otherwise existed pursuant to Section 20-3-130.

In all actions for separate support and maintenance, legal separation, or other marital litigation between the parties, allowances of alimony and suit money and allowances of alimony and suit money pendente lite shall be made according to the principles controlling such allowance…

In any divorce action any attorney fee awarded by the court shall constitute a lien on any property owned by the person ordered to pay the attorney fee and such attorney fee shall be paid to the estate of the person entitled to receive it under the order if such person dies durin…

If the court awards the custody of the children to the spouse receiving alimony the court, by its decree, unless good cause to the contrary be shown, shall allocate any award for permanent alimony and support between the supported spouse and the children and upon the remarriage o…

In any action for divorce from the bonds of matrimony the court may at any stage of the cause, or from time to time after final judgment, make such orders touching the care, custody and maintenance of the children of the marriage and what, if any, security shall be given for the …

(A) Whenever any husband or wife, pursuant to a judgment of divorce from the bonds of matrimony, has been required to make his or her spouse any periodic payments of alimony and the circumstances of the parties or the financial ability of the spouse making the periodic payments s…

The court, upon the granting of final judgment of divorce or an order of separate maintenance, may allow a party to resume a former surname or the surname of a former spouse.

On the granting of any final decree of divorce, the wife shall thereafter be barred of dower in lands formerly owned, then owned, or thereafter acquired by her former husband.

If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court that the parties to any divorce proceeding colluded or that the act complained of was done with the knowledge or assent of the plaintiff for the purpose of obtaining a divorce the court shall not grant such divorce.

No judgment of divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall render illegitimate the children begotten of the marriage.

It shall be unlawful for any person to print, publish, distribute or circulate or cause to be printed, published, distributed or circulated any card, handbill, advertisement, printed paper, book, newspaper or notice of any kind offering or otherwise to advertise to procure, attem…

Any person violating any of the provisions of Section 20-3-210 shall, upon conviction, be punished for each offense by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not less than one month or more than one year, or both …

Whenever a divorce or annulment is decreed by a court having jurisdiction, the clerk of court shall, no later than thirty days following the filing of the final decree, send a report to the Registrar of the Division of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health and Environmenta…

A decree of divorce shall set forth the social security numbers, or the alien identification numbers assigned to resident aliens who do not have social security numbers, of the parties in the divorce. Filing the required form with the Department of Health and Environmental Contro…

In order to institute an action for divorce from the bonds of matrimony the plaintiff must have resided in this State at least one year prior to the commencement of the action or, if the plaintiff is a nonresident, the defendant must have so resided in this State for this period;…

Any married person shall, for the purpose of maintaining or defending an action for divorce and the settlement of property rights arising thereunder, be deemed of age.

This article may be cited as the "Uniform Divorce Recognition Act."

A divorce from the bonds of matrimony obtained in another jurisdiction shall be of no force or effect in this State if both parties to the marriage were domiciled in this State at the time the proceeding for the divorce was commenced.

Proof that a person obtaining a divorce from the bonds of matrimony in another jurisdiction was (a) domiciled in this State within twelve months prior to the commencement of the proceeding therefor and resumed residence in this State within eighteen months after the date of his d…

This article shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact substantially identical legislation.

Actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall, except as otherwise provided, be only in the equity jurisdiction of the court of common pleas.

Actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony or for separate support and maintenance must be tried in the county (a) in which the defendant resides at the time of the commencement of the action, (b) in which the plaintiff resides if the defendant is a nonresident or after due …

During the marriage a spouse shall acquire, based upon the factors set out in Section 20-3-620, a vested special equity and ownership right in the marital property as defined in Section 20-3-630, which equity and ownership right are subject to apportionment between the spouses by…

(A) In a proceeding for divorce a vinculo matrimonii or separate support and maintenance, or in a proceeding for disposition of property following a prior decree of dissolution of a marriage by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse or which lacked juris…

(A) The term "marital property" as used in this article means all real and personal property which has been acquired by the parties during the marriage and which is owned as of the date of filing or commencement of marital litigation as provided in Section 20-3-620 regardless of …

In determining the value of contributions prior to making an equitable apportionment, the court: (1) shall make findings of fact from credible evidence of the values of property and services, if any; (2) is empowered to take judicial notice of official reports of the federal and …

(A) At any stage of a proceeding under this article where it appears to the court that personal jurisdiction may not be obtained over an absent party or where a party refuses to comply with an order of the court, the court may, upon appropriate petition, order the sequestration o…

(A) The court may direct a party to execute and deliver any deed, bill of sale, note, mortgage, or other document necessary to carry out its order of equitable apportionment. If a party so directed fails to comply, the court may direct the clerk of court in the county in which th…

(A)(1) In a proceeding under this article, either party may record a notice of the pendency of proceedings in the manner provided in civil actions generally, which has the same effect as a notice in civil actions. The rights and interests of each spouse in the other's property cr…

A transcript of judgment may be substantially in the following form: STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF IN THE FAMILY COURT , Petitioner, vs. , TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT Respondent. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that in the above-captioned proceeding, (family court docket # of proceeding or…

The family courts of this State have subject matter jurisdiction over all contracts relating to property which is involved in a proceeding under this article and over the construction and enforcement of those contracts.

When the person on whom the service of the summons in an action for divorce from the bonds of matrimony is to be made cannot, after due diligence, be found within the State and that fact appears to the satisfaction of the court, or judge thereof, the clerk of the court of common …

No reference shall be had before two months after the filing of the complaint in the office of the Clerk of Court, nor shall a final decree be granted before three months after such filing. Provided, however, that when the plaintiff seeks a divorce on the grounds of desertion or …

In all cases referred to a master or special referee, such master or special referee shall, except in default cases, summon the party or parties within the jurisdiction of the court before him and shall in all cases make an earnest effort to bring about a reconciliation between t…