In an opinion recently issued by the South Carolina Court of Appeals, the justices considered the claims of a woman who alleged that she should be granted a divorce based on her husband’s habitual intoxication. The case in question is Miteva v. Robinson. The case centers on a couple who were married in 2007 and who filed for divorce in 2011. The couple had no children together, but each had their own children from Read More

As we discussed in a prior post on this blog, South Carolina family courts issue orders on a wide range of subjects to bring the judge’s decisions into effect. Even after the judge has spoken on a particular matter and issued orders which are legally binding on the parties, some people still refuse to do as they were instructed by the court. One of the most powerful methods of forcing parties to comply with court Read More

If you’re involved in a divorce or custody dispute in South Carolina, court orders are the means by which a judge’s decisions become legally-binding instructions, and through which penalties against disobeying parties can be enforced. Read on to learn about court orders and how they are created. In a future post, we will discuss how court orders can be enforced, and the consequences that someone violating an order Read More

Financial issues can have a major impact on the success of your marriage. Statistics reveal that one of the most common reasons couples cite as the cause of their divorce is conflict over money. If you’re planning a wedding, take this opportunity to discuss with your spouse how and to what extent you wish to merge your finances, and consider the following guidelines in the process. Make all of your debts known: When Read More

In a recent case before the South Carolina Court of Appeals, a mother who prevented her children from seeing their father was sanctioned by the court for disobeying the couple’s custody agreement. The case, titled Noojin v. Noojin, centered around a custodial dispute between a couple who had divorced in 2011. The couple reached an agreement where the mother was awarded primary custody, and the father received Read More

When a family court divides up property owned by a married couple, if a spouse has kept certain inherited or premarital property separate from the pooled assets of the couple, that property may be considered nonmarital and not included in the division of assets by the court. The question of whether or not formerly separate property has been turned into marital property, through the process known as “transmutation,” Read More

When you finally arrive at the decision to divorce your spouse, you’ve probably reached a point of not being too huge a fan of your soon-to-be ex, nor them of you. In fact, your relationship may have begun to go south years before the divorce, during which time your ex may have started to set aside money in hidden accounts or invested in assets they never mentioned. It’s also possible that your spouse has also been, Read More

Litigating a family law matter is inevitably a difficult and painful process. One of the most challenging aspects of a divorce or custody action is how little control litigants can feel over the process. Parties are at the mercy of overloaded, rule-heavy courts, and can end up in increasingly contentious exchanges of motions, racking up costs and fees along the way. Rather than having your divorce or custody matter Read More

Depending upon how it's handled, divorce can be emotionally exhausting and expensive.  Even couples who manage to separate on relatively good terms will necessarily learn about the high costs associated with divorce, from the basic cost of filing for divorce to the expense of maintaining a new household separate from your spouse. While some expense is inevitable, there are certain ways that parties to a divorce can Read More

When you’re in the process of getting a divorce, you’re facing a number of changes all at once. You may be tempted to fight to hold onto as many pieces as you can of the life you had before, and remaining in the place you are used to calling home can understandably bring comfort during a time of chaos. You may even wish to stay in your house for the sake of your children. However, when working through a division of Read More