What is an Uncontested Divorce in South Carolina?

So what is an uncontested divorce in South Carolina?  There are several things that must be in place before your divorce is considered uncontested.  An uncontested divorce looks good to people because they believe it can be obtained more cheaply and quicker than trying to duke it out in court.Sometimes it makes sense to proceed with trying to get an uncontested divorce.  I have met with a lot of potential clients recently who have been living separate from their spouse for many years.  They have moved on emotionally and physically, but they have never done anything about the marriage.An uncontested divorce is good when the couple does not have any property to divide, when there are no children, and when there is no alimony to be paid from one spouse to the other.  If there are issues like property that must be divided, child custody, property division, alimony, child support and so on then you may need to forget about the uncontested divorce and make sure you are protected.If you and your spouse are able to work out those issues, it is normally possible for you to put your agreement in writing is a separation agreement which is presented to the court for the court's approval.  This agreement must settle all issues in the marriage before you can proceed like the divorce is an uncontested divorce.Finally, an uncontested divorce is filed on the grounds of more than one year's continuous separation.  Without going into a huge discussion of the law on what that means, basically it means that you have been voluntarily separated from your spouse for more than one year.  Voluntarily means that the separation is not due solely because your spouse is incarcerated or because they have been deployed by the military.  Separated means they are living in a totally separate residence.  Not that they are sleeping in the bedroom down the hall or the basement or not because you haven't had sex in over a year.  Finally, you must have been separated as described above for more than one year or you cannot ask for a divorce on that ground.For a description of what the process is like, and more information about uncontested divorce visit the South Carolina Uncontested Divorce page on this blog.