How Long Does it Take for an Uncontested Divorce in South Carolina
This is a hard question to answer because it contains many variables. But, I can help provide some general guidelines so you can get an idea of how long the typical uncontested divorce takes in South Carolina.Like I mentioned in a previous post, I practice primarily in Greenville County, South Carolina so I can speak more authoritatively on how long it takes in Greenville. Most other counties will have similar time frames, but they do vary from county to county.This also assumes that your case is truly uncontested, meaning you and your spouse agree that there are no issues for the court to resolve except for actualy divorce (i.e. no property to separate, no children together, or you have reached a written agreement on all of these issues).First, the complaint is prepared by the attorney and filed with the Family Court. Once the complaint is returned by the Court, it must be served on your spouse. This can be done in person or by certified mail. It could also be done by publication, but that complicates things a little for this post. Look for a post about service by publication coming out soon. It may take a week or two to get the paperwork prepared and ready for service. Then, depending on the procedure used for serving your spouse, it may take a day or so or possibly weeks. In many uncontested divorce matters the spouse will come to my office to be served by my paralegal which is much quicker.Once your spouse is served with the paperwork, he or she will have 30 days to answer or they will be considered to be in "default." If they agree with everything in the complaint, they will be able to sign an answer that says they agree with everything and we can request a hearing.At this point we are at the mercy of the court and we must wait on them to schedule our case on the court docket. This part could take six weeks or longer to get scheduled. This time varies widely from county to county depending on the number of family court judges the county has, the time of year, and the number of other cases going on at the time.Once your case is set, we will go to a Final Hearing and you will be divorced. Typically, a truly uncontested case where everyone agrees and works together takes about three months. I have seen them happen faster, and I have seen them take much longer. I hope this helps give you an idea of how long your case might take.
The Problem with Do It Yourself Divorce Kits in South Carolina
I have met with a lot of people who are interested in meeting with an attorney to discuss their case, but all along they are really just gathering information so they can file their own divorce papers and attempt to get a divorce on their own in South Carolina. While I don't have a problem with someone representing themselves, nor do I have a problem with someone consulting with me about what they should do - I really want to give a warning to those considering filing for divorce on their own.There are forms for free on the South Carolina Judicial website (www.sccourts.org). Anyone can download those forms, fill in the blanks and file for divorce in South Carolina. BUT, and this is a big but, I would only say that is alright in a completely uncontested divorce case where there is no property or debt to separate, the grounds for divorce are the no-fault (one year separation), and there are no children (or the children have reach the age of 18 and have graduated from high school). Otherwise, you should consult with an attorney about your case because there are going to be details that you do not know or think about in your case that may be forever barred if you do not do it right the first time around.I know this sounds a little self-serving coming from a divorce lawyer, but I really want you to make sure that when you are going through a situation like a divorce you make sure that you take care of yourself and your family the right way the first time around so you do not have to continue coming back to the Family Court again and again.Many companies who provide the divorce forms are being cracked down on in South Carolina because they are either practicing law without a license or they are misleading the public about the actual services that they provide. They simply provide the fill-in-the-blank forms for you to fill in and a set of instructions on how to file the paperwork correctly but they do not fill in all of the details about how you are supposed to go about getting a hearing date, what questions you will need to ask (or the testimony you will need to provide the Family Court at your hearing) and whether you need a witness or not to testify on your behalf. All of these things if done incorrectly could be a bar to prevent your divorce from becoming final.
Divorce Dancing Parody
I'm sure you have all seen the JK Wedding dance video on YouTube or the Today Show by now. I recently found this parody about the couple's "final day." I think you'll enjoy.
What are South Carolina Divorce Grounds?
In general, there are only a few broad issues involved in a divorce case. Those issues are grounds for divorce, division of property and debts, custody of children, child support, visitation, and alimony. The first issue is the grounds for divorce. Basically what divorce grounds are is the reason for the divorce. In South Carolina, the law provides for five divorce grounds. They are:
- Physical Cruelty;
- Habitual Drunkenness or Drug Abuse;
- Adultery;
- Abandonment; and
- More than one years continuous separation.
The first four legal grounds for divorce are "fault-based" and the fifth groiund is the no-fault ground in South Carolina. Basically, the ground you choose will determine that type of evidence and proof you must show the Family Court in order to be granted a divorce in your case. Some grounds require stricter levels of proof while others just require the corrorboration of one witness.We will begin to discuss each of the grounds specifically in later posts.