Divorce Lawyers in Mt. Pleasant, SC
Helping Clients Through Divorce in the Greater Charleston Area
Divorce is one of the most significant transitions a person can face. It reshapes your family dynamics, affects your financial future, and can bring overwhelming emotional stress. At Klok Law Firm, we guide clients through this process with empathy, support, and strategic focus.
With over 30 years of experience in high-stakes family law matters, our firm provides individualized legal plans, your own “battle-plan,” designed around your goals, your family, and your future. We explain each step, outline your options, and help you make informed decisions without confusion or intimidation.
Our team, including trained mediators and collaborative law professionals, works hard to resolve your divorce as efficiently and amicably as possible. When a court is necessary, we are skilled litigators prepared to protect your rights and best interests throughout the process.
Call (843) 701-1695 or submit our online contact form to request your free initial consultation with a Mt. Pleasant divorce attorney. We offer in-house and virtual consultations for your convenience. Hablamos español.
How We Can Help Divorce Clients in South Carolina
Our firm brings both compassion and professional skill to every divorce case.
We help you:
- Understand your legal rights and options
- Identify goals and priorities
- Protect assets, financial stability, and long-term interests
- Safeguard parental rights and create child-centered solutions
- Reduce unnecessary conflict whenever possible
- Stay grounded and informed through every stage of the process
When the path becomes difficult, we provide steady guidance to help you move forward; our goal is to make you healthier, happier, and stronger than when the process began.
The Challenges of Divorce
Divorce is not simply a legal event; it is commonly an emotional and financial upheaval. Clients often face a range of intense emotions, including anxiety, guilt, anger, grief, or uncertainty. These feelings can make communication with a spouse difficult, fuel conflict, and cloud judgment about long-term needs.
Family Law 101
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An Overview of Divorce in South Carolina
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I DECIDE TO GET A DIVORCE?
When going through a divorce or separation, many people find the process difficult. Life will no longer be the same. There are so many different emotions and affect every person in a different way. Just a few are guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, anger, revenge, and regret. To top it off most are overwhelmed. The legal process can be scary and tough to handle. The filing clerks can’t give you as you may try to muddle through the process. Dig in and find out information or book an appointment. Klok Law is your South Carolina divorce attorney and we are here to help.
You are searching for information and there is so much out there it is a challenge to break it down. Friends are giving you advice and share their divorce stories. Each story is different so you do not know what to expect for child support, spousal support and maintenance, or alimony. And who keeps the house?
Stop the sleepless nights! Klok Law will guide you through the basics.
HOW DO I GET DIVORCED?
In South Carolina, there are five grounds for divorce:
- Adultery
- Desertion for one year
- Physical Cruelty
- Habitual drunkenness (also includes narcotic drug use)
- Living separate and part without cohabitation for one year
See S.C. Code Ann. §20-3-10 . The reality is if one spouse wants a divorce, there is hardly anything you can do stop them. If the basis for a divorce is adultery, physical cruelty or habitual drunkenness, you do not have to wait the one year to file for divorce.
If you have to wait one year before you can divorce, you are not left high and dry. You can file an action for separate support and maintenance.
WHAT IS SEPARATE SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE?
In South Carolina, there is no “legal separation.” Do not worry. Instead of filing for divorce, you can for separate support and maintenance where all the issues that you would raise in a divorce action will be ruled on by the family court except for the divorce itself. To qualify, you and your spouse must be living apart. You cannot live in the same house but in separate bedrooms. You have to have separate dwellings.
WHAT IS THE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR A SOUTH CAROLINA DIVORCE OR SEPARATE SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE?
In order to file for divorce in South Carolina, you must meet one of these conditions:
The plaintiff must have resided in South Carolina for at one year before filing, or
If the plaintiff is a non-resident, then the defendant must have resided in South Carolina for at least one year before filing, or
If both parties are residents of South Carolina, the plaintiff must have resided in South Carolina for three months before filing.
As to active service military members stationed in South Carolina, you are treated as a “resident” or “resided” in South Carolina regardless of your intent to permanently remain in South Carolina or not.
WHERE DO I FILE?
In South Carolina, if you file for divorce, or for separate support and maintenance, you must file:
- In the county where the defendant resides at the time you file, or
- In the county where the plaintiff resides if the defendant is a non-resident or cannot be found after due diligence, or
- In the county in which the plaintiff and defendant last resided together as husband and wife unless the plaintiff is a non-resident (unless the plaintiff is a non-resident, then in the county in which the defendant resides).
DOES SOUTH CAROLINA HAVE COMMON LAW MARRIAGE?
The South Carolina legislature recognizes common law marriage. See S.C. Code Ann. §20-3-260. A common law marriage is the same as any other marriage in South Carolina. There is no time period requirement to create a common law marriage. You do not need to wait seven years, or any other period of time. You can be common law married after one day or after thirty years. A common law marriage is formed when:
- Both parties must intend to be married to each other and have “a mutual understanding of each party’s intent.”
- There must be no impediment to marriage, meaning you cannot be married if you are already married to someone else or you marry your brother or sister.
- The parties live together.
- The parties hold themselves out to the public that they are married.
Callen vs Callen, 365 S.C. 618, 620 S.E. 2d 59 (2005)
IS MILITARY DIVORCE ANY DIFFERENT?
A military divorce has special considerations and is different from other kinds of divorce in South Carolina. For example, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act will apply. In that case, the court may delay the action for not less than ninety days. However, a Servicemember may not delay the proceedings indefinitely.
WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE?
In a collaborative divorce, both parties have attorneys focusing on resolving divorce, child custody, support, and division of marital property and debt without litigating issues in court. It is a team approach that can include other professionals besides attorneys. The team members can include divorce coaches, financial neutrals and child specialists. A fundamental part of collaborative divorce is that all the parties agree that if they cannot resolve the issues and decide to litigate the issues in family, their existing lawyers will not represent them in litigation. If collaborative law is for you Klok Law is collaboratively trained and certified.
WHAT IS COOPERATIVE DIVORCE?
Cooperative divorce is very similar to collaborative divorce. The key difference is that if the parties cannot agree they are not required to find and pay a new lawyer. Changing representation is expensive and takes time to find another good fit with an attorney. Cooperative divorce is focused on resolution and not litigation but affords you the flexibility of going to court to resolve issues, if needed.
When you reach the end of your rope, call or book online with Klok Law. We are your trusted South Carolina divorce attorneys.
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Divorce Fees and Your Options
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET DIVORCED?
You may want to know how much a divorce typically costs. There is no one answer, it depends. The cost can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. Nationwide, the average cost for divorce is $15,000 to $30,000.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY IN YOUR DIVORCE
Nail down your goals.
Spend some time thinking about what issues need to be resolved in your case. Think about what is your worst case, best case, and happy medium for each issue. Here are possible issues in divorce:
Property and Debt Division
- Mortgages
- Credit Card Debt
- Inheritances
- Insurance Payments
- Property
- Student Loans
- Family Businesses
- Separate or premarital assets or debts
Decision Making
- Differences in religion
- Differences in education preferences
- Differences in medical treatment options
- Addiction issues
- Domestic violence
Parenting Time
- How old are the children?
- What are the children’s preferences?
- Consider where the children are going to school
- Consider how close or far apart you will live
- Consider your work schedules
Child Support
- Determine all income
- Child care costs
- Non-joint children
- Medical costs
- Spousal support paid and received
- Separate child support paid and received
- Parenting time schedule
Spousal maintenance/alimony
- Does one party rely on the other?
- What will budget be?
- Where will you live?
1. Gather your resources.
Resources are financial and emotional. Consider what it will cost to get what you want. Do a cost-benefit analysis for the best and worst case scenarios for each issue. One reason people spend so much money is that they use their divorce lawyer as a sounding board. While divorce attorneys do provide emotional support, you should not go to your attorney for advice and support on non-legal issues. You are better off financially and emotionally to use a counselor in that role.2. Get it in ship shape.
Don’t dump documents on your attorney. When you deliver documents to your attorney make sure they are complete, organized and easy to access. It is expensive to pay an attorney to organize your documents.3. Use restraint in your communications.
Don’t call or email your attorney every time your spouse or ex does something you don’t like. Write down your questions and thoughts, and send an email once a week to your attorney with everything that is important to you, or schedule a meeting to go over your issues.4. Remember your goals.
Don’t get caught up in the drama. Keep your goals in mind and remember your happy medium. Rarely people get everything they want so keep up the mental cost-benefit analysis as you move forward.OPTIONS TO PAY FOR YOUR DIVORCE
How do you pay for your divorce? Often, one spouse has access or control of most of the assets making it difficult for the other spouse to access funds. Typically, people fund their divorce in one, or a combination of, these options:
1. Cash or reserve funds. If you have saving set aside, the easiest way to pay for an attorney is to use the savings.
2.Credit cards. Many people use credit cards. Most attorneys accept credit cards.
3. Borrowing money from your retirement account. Some people take out money out of their retirement account. Be sure to do so before a complaint for divorce is filed, because once filed a temporary order will follow which will probably prohibit you from liquidating assets.
4. Borrowing money from family or friends. Many families or friends provide financial assistance in the form of a gift or loan during a divorce. Be aware that if someone else pays for your case, they may want to be involved and control your case. You alone control your case regardless of who pays.
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The South Carolina Divorce Process
The South Carolina Divorce Process
South Carolina Rules of Family Court (SCRFC) governs all procedural rules in Family Court. The SCRFC combines elements from South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, South Carolina Rules of Evidence, South Carolina Rules of Criminal Procedure for juvenile actions, South Carolina Rules of Evidence, and South Carolina Appellate Court Rules.
The Complaint
Every South Carolina divorce case begins with the filing of a Complaint in Family Court. The first step is to either file the complaint or answer the complaint.
Here are the South Carolina Family Court Rules:
- General Provisions – Rules 1-3
- Family Court Records – Rule 6
- Admissibility of Documents – Rule 7
- Appearance of Counsel – Rule 8
- Conduct at Hearings – Rule 9
- Judges’ Absence from State – Rule 10
- Jurisdiction of Judge of Adjoining Circuit – Rule 11
- Attorneys for Guardian Ad Litem – Rule 12
- Bench Warrants – Rule 13
- Rule to Show Cause – Rule 14
- Continuing Jurisdiction – Rule 16
- Failure to Answer – Rule 17
- Failure of Defendant to Counterclaim for Divorce – Rule 18
- Lis Pendens – Rule 19
- Financial Declaration – Rule 20
- Temporary Relief – Rule 21
- Interview with Child – Rule 22
- Presence or Testimony of Child – Rule 23
- Automatic Enforcement of Child Support and Periodic Alimony – Rule 24
- Discovery – Rule 25
- Orders – Rule 26
- Enforcement of Visitation – Rule 27
- Pre-Adjudicatory Detention (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 31
- Detention Hearing (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 32
- Transfer of Venue (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 33
- Waiver Hearing (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 34
- Adjudicatory Hearing (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 35
- Right to Counsel (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 36
- Dispositional Hearing (Juvenile Actions) – Rule 37
- Counsel and Guardian Ad Litem Fees in Abuse and/or Neglect Proceedings – Rule 41
- Appendix of Forms
South Carolina Family Court
All family court cases are heard “in family court.” This means there are judges who only hear family law cases. Family court judges are elected to six-year terms. The Judicial Merit Selection Commission considers the qualifications and fitness of candidates and submits the names to the general assembly. Then, the state legislators vote and elect judges for family court. There are sixteen judicial circuits in South Carolina. Family court judges rotate primarily from county to county within their resident circuits, but may also rotate outside their resident circuits. For the majority of cases, you will not know which judge will be hearing your case until the Friday before the week of your court date.
Initial Documents
Each South Carolina family court case begins with the filing of these initial documents: Family Court Coversheet, Summons, Complaint, and Certificate of Exemption. Either party may request a temporary order by filing a motion along with the Complaint or Answer. A temporary order is an order issued while the case is pending before a final order is issued. The temporary order could be for spousal support and maintenance, child custody, child support, use of the marital home, payment of bills, attorney fees or any other matter.
Financial Declarations and Discovery
After the initial documents are filed, the next step in South Carolina divorce cases is the exchange of financial declarations and discovery. Discovery tools include interrogatories, request for production of documents, request for admissions, depositions and subpoenas.
Mediation
In South Carolina, parties in family court cases must participate in at least three hours of mediation unless they reach an agreement on all issues. Lawyers at Klok Law are also South Carolina certified family court mediators.
Trial Preparation and Trial
Most people do not go to trial. Approximately 90% of family court cases settle before trial. This last step in the process to prepare evidence and witnesses.
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Temporary Orders
WHAT ARE TEMPORARY ORDERS IN A DIVORCE?
A temporary order is an order issued while the case is pending before a final order is issued. The temporary order could be for spousal support and maintenance, child custody, child support, use of the marital home, payment of bills, attorney fees, or any other matter.
What and when to file?
You cannot file a motion for a temporary relief until a complaint is filed first. If you do not file a complaint, your motion for temporary relief will be dismissed. You can file the motion at the same time you file your complaint, or after and should incorporate the facts in your complaint. Also, you need to be specific on the relief you are requesting and include more information, as well as providing the required Temporary Hearing Background Information. Please note, that you have to filed and served your financial declaration before your hearing. You may also submit affidavits in support of your motion, subject to page limitations.
Temporary Hearing
Temporary hearings are short, usually fifteen minutes. There are no witnesses at this hearing, only filings, arguments and submitted affidavits.
When will I get a temporary order?
You may receive a temporary order on the day of the hearing, or days after, depending on who drafts the order if matters were contested.
How long does the temporary order last?
Temporary orders remain in effect until there is a final order, another temporary order replaces it, or the case is dismissed.
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South Carolina Annulment
SOUTH CAROLINA ANNULMENT
Unlike a divorce, an annulment cancels the marriage. While divorce is a remedy to a valid marriage, an annulment is like pressing the “cancel” button. You can get an annulment when the marriage was never valid.
What are the grounds for an annulment?
In South Carolina, you must have a legal basis to prove your marriage was never valid in order to obtain an annulment.
- No cohabitation – the spouses never lived together
- Incest – spouses are too closely related
- Bigamy – one spouse has a living spouse at the time of the marriage
- Mental Incompetence – one spouse is mentally disabled and incapable of providing consent.
- Underage – One of spouses is under sixteen years old
- Fraud or duress – negating consent
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Privacy Challenges and SafetyWhen going through a divorce, even if you think it will be a “friendly” divorce, it is important that you protect your privacy. In South Carolina, if one person to an in-person conversation or electronic communication, can record it. Your spouse may record any conversations they have with you. Make sure you take other precautions to protect your privacy during a divorce. At Klok Law, we recommend that you do not engage in social media while going through a divorce. What you post may seem innocent but in some circumstances, it can be misinterpreted and used against you. Change your passwords to one you would not normally choose. Your spouse probably knows you well and could guess your new password. We recommend using a Strong Random Password Generator. Disable any location sharing services on your mobile phone, double check those privacy settings. It just doesn’t happen to celebrities. In the well-publicized divorce of a famous musician power couple, the wife allegedly discovered her husband was cheating on her when she saw explicit texts and nude pictures between her husband and the nanny. Apparently, the family’s iPad and the husband’s phone were linked through iCloud. We have also seen this happen to couples in our own law practice.
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Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence is a real and serious issue. Unfortunately, in divorce actions both parties use the claim of domestic violence as leverage in getting a divorce and obtaining custody of children. There has been a rise of abusers using the domestic violence laws against their abused spouse by turning the laws upside down. These abusers will use domestic violence laws to arrest, prosecute and sentence their partner as an abuser so that they gain control. Check out HANGING ON BY MY FINGERNAILS: SURVIVING THE NEW DIVORCE GAMESMANSHIP, AND HOW A SCRATCH CAN LAND YOU IN JAIL by Janie McQueen.
In South Carolina, Criminal Domestic Violence is when you
“(1) cause physical harm or injury to a person’s own household member; or
(2) offer or attempt to cause physical harm or injury to a person’s own household member with apparent present ability under circumstances reasonably creating fear of imminent peril.”
S.C. Code Ann. §16-25-20 (A)(1)-(2).
Actual injury is not a requirement to be convicted of CDV, and an attempt is enough. Once a person is arrested, it is up to the State, not a victim, as to whether or not to prosecute or drop the charges.
Allegations of Criminal Domestic Violence are serious and can have far reaching consequences. It is not unheard of one spouse calling the police on the other spouse to allege criminal domestic violence in order to get an upper hand in divorce litigation. It is important that you protect yourself while going through a divorce.
Why Choose Us?
Our Firm is Committed to Promoting Individual’s Access to Justice
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Trustworthy
Klok Law has advocated for individual rights for more than 30 years.
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Providing Service in SpanishFamily law help provided by a Spanish-speaking team.
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