Title 63, South Carolina Children's Code

(A) Except as otherwise provided in this part, Sections 63-17-3710 through 63-17-3740 apply to a contest of a registered convention support order. (B) A party contesting a registered convention support order shall file a contest not later than thirty days after notice of the regi…

(A) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (B), a tribunal of this State shall recognize and enforce a registered convention support order. (B) The following grounds are the only grounds on which a tribunal of this State may refuse recognition and enforcement of a registered …

If a tribunal of this State does not recognize and enforce a convention support order in its entirety, it shall enforce any severable part of the order. An application or direct request may seek recognition and partial enforcement of a convention support order.

(A) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (C) and (D), a tribunal of this State shall recognize and enforce a foreign support agreement registered in this State. (B) An application or direct request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support agreement must be acco…

(A) A tribunal of this State may not modify a convention child-support order if the obligee remains a resident of the foreign country where the support order was issued unless: (1) the obligee submits to the jurisdiction of a tribunal of this State, either expressly or by defendi…

Personal information gathered or transmitted under this part may be used only for the purposes for which it was gathered or transmitted.

A record filed with a tribunal of this State under this part must be in the original language and, if not in English, must be accompanied by an English translation.

(A) The court must encourage settlements and voluntary agreements and must examine and approve them whenever they are warranted. Upon a finding of fairness the court shall approve, without a hearing, settlements and voluntary agreements which are reduced to writing, signed by the…

When a petition is presented to the court and it shall appear that: (1) the summons or rule to show cause cannot be served; or (2) the respondent has failed to obey the summons or rule to show cause; or (3) the respondent is likely to leave the jurisdiction; or (4) a summons or r…

(A) For purposes of this article, "governor" includes an individual performing the functions of governor or the executive authority of a state covered by this article. (B) The Governor of this State may: (1) demand that the governor of another state surrender an individual found …

(A) Before making a demand that the governor of another state surrender an individual charged criminally in this State with having failed to provide for the support of an obligee, the Governor of this State may require a prosecutor of this State to demonstrate that at least sixty…

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…