Divorce papers in South Carolina — filing for divorce in SC

Online divorce in South Carolina

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How to get divorce in South Carolina

Online Divorce provides qualitative and approved by the court South Carolina divorce papers. The information below will help you understand more about the divorce in South Carolina . However, if you feel any doubt or insecurities, we will help you figure out how get your divorce form documents quickly and correctly filled out according to the rules set by the state without hiring an Attorney. onlinedivorce.com provides quick and inexpensive services of online divorce in South Carolina. We guarantee that in a short time you will receive the correct South Carolina divorce documents with specific circumstances of your divorce, as well as a detailed instruction on what to do next.

Below you can find common steps of how to get divorce in South Carolina:

1

To get a divorce in South Carolina, first of all the marriage should be legal, in other words the marriage was made in accordance with all the rules and conditions of the state.

2

You or your spouse are eligible for residing in the state or both are residents of South Carolina.

3

You must have reasons for deciding that you want a divorce in the state of South Carolina. Basically this is the fault grounds, that is, your spouse made some mistake in the marriage, which led to a break in the relationship. You will also need to prove this in court.

4

You do not have any disputes about your marriage. If this statement is true, then your process of divorce in South Carolina will go much faster and easier. If you and your spouse do not agree on at least one question, then the court will make its decision regarding your dilemma. However, in this case, you will have to go through a number of court hearings, where there will be hearings on all disputable issues.

5

One of the most crucial processes of divorce in South Carolina is the filing of divorce form documents. During this process, you will need to fill out the South Carolina divorce papers which are required by state law. Note that if you fill in invalid papers or make at least one mistake, the court will reject all your South Carolina divorce forms and you will have to re-do them again. Do not worry if you encounter a number of difficulties and misunderstandings while filling in the papers. You can initiate an online divorce in South Carolina using our service. With the help of Online Divorce you will get exactly those papers that correspond to the type of your divorce, and also you can be sure that the divorce form documents filled through our service will be approved by the court. The process of ending the marriage with Online Divorce will be simple, cheap and fast for you.

6

Once you fill out your South Carolina divorce papers, you must register them in court. After that, you should notify your spouse about the beginning of the divorce process, this is called as service the spouse. After this, you need to wait for the court to grant a divorce. This usually takes at least 3 months.

Residency:

In order to apply for a divorce in South Carolina you need to comply with the conditions of the state residence: you or your spouse are required to reside in the state for at least 1 year before filing a lawsuit. If both spouses live in South Carolina, the residence period is reduced to 3 months.

Also apply for divorce in South Carolina are the rights of residents of other states who are military personnel and are based in South Carolina within 1 year regardless of the intention to be a resident of the state.

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Valid grounds to get divorce in South Carolina

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If you are applying for a divorce in the state of South Carolina, then note that this is state with fault grounds. This means that the grounds for divorce will be any serious mistake done by your spouse, which led to a break in relations. So in the divorce form documents you will need to not only state the grounds, but also provide irrefutable evidence of guilt to the court. The main reasons for the divorce in South Carolina may be:

#1

Adultery. A spouse committed treason while in a marriage.

#2

The spouse committed acts of physical violence towards you or the child.

#3

The spouse is addicted to alcohol or drugs for a long period of time.

#4

The spouse voluntarily deserted for a period of not less than 1 year.

#5

You voluntarily do not live with your spouse and do not cohabit for 1 year.

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Annulment of the marriage in South Carolina

Annulment is one of the ways to terminate a marriage. The only difference is that divorce is applied to legal marriages, and annulment is suitable for those marriages that do not have legal force, in other words the legislation of the state of South Carolina does not recognize them and the marriage does not actually exist.

If you want to annul your marriage, at least one of the following conditions must be observed:

  • One of the spouses forced the second to marry;
  • One of the spouses fraudulently forced the second to marry;
  • One of the spouses already had a marriage with another person (which had not yet been dissolved) at the time of marriage;
  • Spouses are blood relatives;
  • At the time of marriage at least one of the spouses was under 16 years of age;
  • Spouses never cohabited;

Despite the fact that it is considered that the marriage actually never existed, in case of cancellation in South Carolina, the court still has the right to award custody of the child to the mother or any other parent, to divide the common property, as well as award financial support to the child or the second spouse.

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Custody of the child in South Carolina

Custody of the child

With a divorce in South Carolina at any time, as well as after the divorce is granted, the court can decide on custody of the child or change its decision after the appearance of new important factors.

The court makes a decision based on the best interests of the child, the main guardian will be the parent who is able to provide the child with the most comfortable conditions for growing up, create sufficient conditions for safety and provide medical support. 

Rules for child support in South Carolina

If the couple decided to get a divorce in South Carolina they should know that courts oblige parents to financially support their minor children. Usually state uses the Income Shares Model for calculating child support. In determining the amount to be paid by a parent for child support and the period during which the duty of support is owed, the court shall consider the following factors:

  • Needs of the child(ren);
  • Standard of living and economic circumstances of each parent;
  • All sources of income and assets of each parent;
  • Earning ability of each parent, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, custodial responsibility for children including the cost of providing child care and the length of time and cost of each parent to obtain training or experience for appropriate employment;
  • Need and capacity of the child(ren) for education, including higher education;
  • Age and health of the child and each parent;
  • Income, assets and earning ability of the child(ren);
  • Responsibility of the parents for the court-ordered support of others;
  • Reasonable debts and liabilities of each child and parent;
  • Any other factors the court may consider as relevant;
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Rules for spousal support in South Carolina

Rules for spousal support

With a divorce in South Carolina, state law provides financial assistance to one of the spouses if the court concludes that he or she really needs it. This kind of support is called alimony. Usually alimony is paid from one spouse to another in the certain amount for a certain period. Alimony can be of the following types:

  • Periodic alimony - type of support, which is awarded by the court for a certain period of time and is paid monthly.
  • Lump sum alimony - type of support, which is paid on a single request at the request of the court, the amount can be sent as one payment or to be broken into smaller ones. After the court has made a decision on lump sum alimony the amount can not be changed.
  • Rehabilitative alimony - the type of support that is paid to an unemployed spouse to help her or him get the necessary education or skills that will help find a good job.
  • Reimbursement alimony - the type of support whose goal is to compensate for the financial, physical or emotional support of the spouse. For example, if in a marriage one of the spouses worked and gave money to the second spouse (who did not work) for the education necessary for him or her to get a job, then the second spouse after the divorce in South Carolina will have to refund the amount spent on training to the first spouse.
  • Separate maintenance and support - type of support, which is appointed by the court for spouses who do not seek a divorce, but live separately.

Usually this type of alimony is paid on an ongoing basis monthly.
With a divorce in South Carolina the court will decide on the kind of alimony, their frequency and amount after the analysis of such factors:

  • Duration of marriage;
  • The age of the spouses;
  • Education of each spouse and their employment;
  • The level of physical and mental condition of each spouse;
  • Incomes of each spouse, as well as expenses and promissory notes;
  • The property of each spouse, as well as the property that was awarded by the court during the divorce;

Property division in South Carolina

Property division

If you are faced with a divorce in South Carolina and you have a common estate with your spouse, then you must divide it. South Carolina is a state with a equitable apportionment, this does not mean that the property will be divided equally, but nevertheless the division will be fair.

Before the beginning of the process of divorce, you can agree with your spouse about how all the common property will be divided and document it. However, if you can not come to an agreement, the court will decide on the section after analyzing the factors that characterize your divorce. First of all, the court must know what kind of property is common, since it is it that is subject to division. The common property is everything that was acquired by the spouses during the marriage. If you have property that was obtained before marriage, for example, a car, then it is considered private property and is not subject to division. The court takes information about your property and its value from you and your spouse.

If you expect a fair decision from the court, then everything that you and your spouse have, as well as what was purchased by you before the marriage is to be reflected in your  divorce form documents, as well as the approximate cost of all of the listed property.

Divorce without a lawyer in South Carolina

If you apply for a divorce in South Carolina, then there is no need to use the services of a lawyer. Cases when a divorce is made without the participation of a lawyer are called Pro Se Divorce, it is a Latin expression that translates as "on her or his own". Depending on which county you live, the process of divorce in the state of South Carolina can vary. Nevertheless, a divorce without the participation of a lawyer is completely legal and is subject to execution in any state. If the spouses have come to the agreement of a division of property and custody of children, then it is very convenient to initiate the Pro Se Divorce.

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Mediation support in South Carolina

Under state law, in divorce in South Carolina courts require couples to use the services of intermediaries. Mediators are the third independent party whose goal is to settle the disputed issues of the spouses regarding their divorce, as well as the spouses' attrition, if the last is possible. Despite the fact that the court obliges the spouses to resort to the services of intermediaries, none of them is obligated to sign any agreement, if he or she is forced to do so. Any agreement is valid only if it is signed on a voluntary basis. Basically, mediators are used when it is necessary to come to an agreement on custody of the child and also to develop a visitation plan.

Divorce forms in South Carolina

The divorce form documents that you need to register will vary depending on the circumstances of your divorce case, for example, whether there are underage children in the marriage, common property, etc. The same district in which you file a claim will demand that you fill out additional South Carolina divorce papers. However, the main divorce form documents that are filled by most couples are "Summons for Divorce", the "Family Court Coversheet" and the "Financial Declaration".

When you begin to fill in your divorce documents, you can face a number of intricate questions or incomprehensible terms. This can cause some difficulties, especially if you do not have a legal background. But do not be afraid prematurely, Online Divorce in South Carolina is always ready to give you legal assistance in choosing the forms required for your type of divorce, as well as help you fill out the South Carolina divorce papers correctly in accordance with the state legislation. With Online Divorce, your process of dissolution of the marriage will become quick and easy.

We guarantee that using our service, you will receive South Carolina divorce papers that will be accepted by the court. The process of filling out divorce form documents with onlinedivorce.com is quite simple, you just need to answer a number of questions that are related to your marriage, and we will do the rest for you.

Uncontested divorce in South Carolina

Uncontested divorce in South Carolina

One type of divorce in South Carolina is an uncontested divorce, which is a simplified form of divorce, which is also faster and less expensive. In order to receive it, you must meet the following criteria:

  • You or your spouse reside in the state for one year or if you both are residents of South Carolina, then you need to reside in the state for 3 months before filing a paper with the court.
  • The reason for divorce is the no-fault ground, in other words, you do not insist that the spouse's misconduct resulted in breaking off relations. The reason for your divorce is that you voluntarily do not live and cohabit together for at least 1 year.
  • You do not have a common property or debt obligations.
  • You do not have common children born in wedlock, and the wife is not pregnant at the time of divorce;
  • You do not have any contentious issues regarding your divorce;

If you meet all of the above conditions, then you need to fill out the following divorce form documents: Family Court Cover Sheet, Certificate of Exemption, Summons for Divorce, Complaint for Divorce, Financial Declaration Form.

How to serve divorce papers in South Carolina

Once you have filed your South Carolina divorce papers in court, you are bound to serve your spouse. In other words, you must provide copies of the documents to your spouse so that he or she knows about the commencement of the divorce proceedings.

You can do this by:

  • Ask the spouse or his attorney to fill out the form "Answer and Waiver of Service";
  • Ask the sheriff to provide documents to your spouse;
  • Use a private process server serve your spouse;
  • Using "constructive service" - in a printed form to notify your spouse by posting a message in the newspaper for 30 days;

The simplest option is the first - to ask your spouse or his lawyer to fill out the appropriate form. However, if you do not know the location of your spouse, then you should publish a message about initiating a divorce in a local newspaper, this will be considered by the court as sufficient evidence that you serve your spouse.

Just keep in mind that you must provide your spouse a divorce form documents that list all your income, debts and real estate that you own.
When your spouse is notified and all necessary South Carolina divorce papers are brought to court, you need to wait for a court decision. South Carolina has a minimum three month waiting period after the papers have been filed before it will grant a divorce.

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Filing fees for divorce in South Carolina

Total fees will contain sum of South Carolina court filing fees and cost of using the service of online divorce in South Carolina. This cost may vary by county. Please check with your local court officer to determine the exact amount.