Family Law

FAMILY LAW IS THE AREA OF LAW THAT DEALS WITH DOMESTIC FAMILY MATTERS SUCH AS MARRIAGE, ADOPTION, DIVORCE, AND CHILD CUSTODY/VISITATION.

The grounds for divorce depend on the state, and may be based on no-fault grounds or fault grounds. In South Carolina (SC), the fault grounds for divorce are (1) adultery, (2) physical cruelty, (3) habitual drunkenness, and (4) desertion. In SC, the no-fault divorce option is living separate and apart without cohabitation for a period of one year.

A no-fault divorce is one in which neither the husband nor the wife officially blames the other for the breakdown of the marriage. Common bases for no-fault divorce are “irreconcilable differences,” “irretrievable breakdown” or “incompatibility.” There is only one main criterion in a no-fault divorce: the parties must have lived separate and apart for one year.

Child custody issues can be particularly difficult. If the parents cannot agree on custody of their child, the courts will decide custody based Family Law: Child Custodyon “the best interests of the child.” Determining the child’s best interests involves many different factors, some more important than others. Child support is determined by child support guidelines and some non-income based factors. SC uses tables that indicate a support amount for different ranges of income, similar to tax tables and an income shares model, which is based on the income of both parents.

Adoption is the process by which a legal parent-child relationship is created between individuals not biologically parent and child. In most cases under SC law, adopted children may inherit on an equal basis with biological children under state laws of distribution upon death of a parent.