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South Carolina

Your marriage contract, South Carolina edition

95 of 100 on the Luck of the Draw Index

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 95 out of 100

South Carolina leaves the size of the property split and the amount and length of alimony to the family court judge, guided only by factor lists. The judge may also weigh marital misconduct in both property and alimony, and adultery before settlement bars alimony by statute. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” South Carolina ranks 45 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

PartScoreThe rule, and where it comes from
Property15 / 20The family court makes an equitable apportionment of marital property after weighing listed factors, with no presumption of equal division, and nonmarital property such as premarital, gifted, and inherited property is excluded.
S.C. Code Ann. §§ 20-3-620, 20-3-630
Alimony20 / 20The court may award periodic, lump-sum, rehabilitative, reimbursement, or other alimony in amounts and for terms it considers appropriate after weighing thirteen listed factors, with no formula or cap.
S.C. Code Ann. § 20-3-130(A)-(C)
Fault20 / 20The court weighs marital misconduct in property division if it affected the parties’ finances or contributed to the breakup, lists fault as an alimony factor, and bars alimony to a spouse who commits adultery before a settlement agreement is signed or a permanent order is entered.
S.C. Code Ann. §§ 20-3-620(B)(2), 20-3-130(A), (C)
Lawyers’ fees20 / 20After considering both parties’ financial resources and marital fault, the court may order one party to pay a reasonable amount toward the other’s attorney fees, expert fees, and costs.
S.C. Code Ann. § 20-3-130(H)
Second opinion20 / 20South Carolina divorce cases are tried by a family court judge without a jury, and no rule lets a party remove the assigned judge without cause.
S.C. Code Ann. § 63-3-590 (children’s cases heard without a jury); no peremptory-challenge provision found (not yet checked against the source)

Getting in

A one-day wait. The couple files a written application with the county probate judge (the clerk of court in Darlington and Georgetown), and the license cannot issue until 24 hours later. The statute lists no waiver of the wait and sets no expiration date. A six-hour premarital course earns a $50 state income tax credit.
S.C. Code §§ 20-1-210, 20-1-220, 20-1-230, 20-1-375

Who can marry you. Only ministers of the Gospel, Jewish rabbis, officers authorized to administer oaths, and chiefs or spiritual leaders of recognized Native American entities may perform the ceremony. The Secretary of State’s notary sheet says notaries may. The statute requires no witnesses, has no self-uniting route, and does not address online ordination.
S.C. Code §§ 20-1-20, 26-1-90

Common-law marriage: Closed to new couples. The state Supreme Court ended common-law marriage on July 24, 2019. A couple who formed one before that date can still prove it, by clear and convincing evidence of mutual intent to marry. A 1978 decision says a marriage valid where contracted is generally recognized; that case did not involve a common-law marriage.
Stone v. Thompson, Op. No. 27908, 428 S.C. 79, 833 S.E.2d 266 (2019); Zwerling v. Zwerling, 270 S.C. 685, 244 S.E.2d 311 (1978)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

South Carolina is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Marital property is what either spouse acquired during the marriage and still owns when marital litigation is filed, whatever the title. Inheritances, gifts from third parties, premarital property and agreed exclusions stay separate. Growth in separate property stays separate except to the extent the other spouse’s efforts caused it. The court cannot divide nonmarital property.
S.C. Code § 20-3-630

An inheritance that touches a joint account

It depends on what the owner meant. Depositing an inheritance in a joint account does not automatically make it marital. It becomes marital if it is mixed until it cannot be traced, or if joint title and use for household bills show the spouses meant it to be shared. The spouse claiming this needs objective evidence. Merely using separate property to support the marriage is not enough.
S.C. Code § 20-3-630(A)(1); Sanders v. Sanders, 396 S.C. 410, 722 S.E.2d 15 (Ct. App. 2011); Simcox-Adams v. Adams, 408 S.C. 252, 758 S.E.2d 206 (Ct. App. 2014); Johnson v. Johnson, 296 S.C. 289, 372 S.E.2d 107 (Ct. App. 1988); Wilburn v. Wilburn, 403 S.C. 372, 743 S.E.2d 734 (2013)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. The common-law necessaries doctrine applies to both spouses, so a provider of necessaries to a husband or wife may sue the other spouse; the Supreme Court left open whether the creditor must first try to collect from the spouse who received the care.
Richland Memorial Hospital v. Burton, 282 S.C. 159, 318 S.E.2d 12 (1984); S.C. Code § 20-5-60

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may elect one-third of the decedent’s probate estate (property passing by will or intestacy, less funeral and administration expenses and claims); non-probate assets are not added, except a revocable trust found illusory under § 62-7-401(c).
S.C. Code §§ 62-2-201, 62-2-202, 62-2-207

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

Two looks, under case law (Hardee v. Hardee), plus S.C. Code § 20-3-630(A)(4). A court asks three questions: whether the agreement was obtained through fraud, duress, mistake, misrepresentation or nondisclosure of material facts; whether it is unconscionable; and whether the facts and circumstances have changed since execution so as to make enforcement unfair and unreasonable.
Hardee v. Hardee, 355 S.C. 382, 585 S.E.2d 501 (2003) (adopting the test of Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635, 292 S.E.2d 662 (1982))

What an agreement needs. An agreement made upon consideration of marriage must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged; no statute requires notarization, witnesses or a waiting period. An antenuptial agreement is presumed fair and equitable for property division if it was voluntarily executed, both parties had separate counsel, and each made the full financial disclosure of income, debts and assets that family court rules require. Waivers of alimony and attorney fees are not void as against public policy.
S.C. Code § 32-3-10(3); S.C. Code § 20-3-630(A)(4); Hardee v. Hardee, 355 S.C. 382 (2003)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Support follows the income shares guidelines and runs to 18, or longer while the child is in high school, up to graduation or the end of the school year after turning 19. A judge may extend it for disability or exceptional circumstances, and may order a parent to help with college if the child will benefit and can do the work, cannot otherwise attend, and the parent can pay.
S.C. Code Regs. 114-4710 to 114-4750; S.C. Code § 63-3-530(A)(17); McLeod v. Starnes, 396 S.C. 647, 723 S.E.2d 198 (2012); Risinger v. Risinger, 273 S.C. 36, 253 S.E.2d 652 (1979)

Moving away with a child. No South Carolina custody statute sets a notice period for moving with a child. A judge decides by the child’s welfare and best interests. In 2004 the state Supreme Court dropped the earlier presumption against relocation. A move of more than 100 miles in the past year is one factor in setting custody.
Latimer v. Farmer, 360 S.C. 375, 602 S.E.2d 32 (2004); S.C. Code § 63-15-240(B)(16)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: one year. A spouse who moves in alone must have lived in South Carolina for one year before filing. If both spouses live in the state at filing, the filer needs only three months. A nonresident may file against a spouse with a year of residence. Where the couple married or the grounds arose does not matter.
S.C. Code § 20-3-30

How long it takes. Either spouse can get a no-fault divorce after one year living apart without cohabitation, over the other’s objection. On that ground the three-month wait does not apply; the hearing can follow the other spouse’s answer or default. Adultery, physical cruelty and habitual drunkenness need no separation but carry a three-month wait.
S.C. Code §§ 20-3-10, 20-3-80, 20-3-90

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 365 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days of residence and 365 days apart run together + no fixed wait after answer or default). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in South Carolina and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

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