9/13/10 9/13/10

Reviewed: I Don't Know Where My Spouse Is - Can I get a Divorce?

So you would like to get a divorce from my spouse, but you don't know where they are or how to find them. It is still possible to get a divorce from them.In order for the family court to hear your case they must have personal jurisdiction over you and your spouse. The court gets this personal jurisdiction over your spouse when they are served with the complaint (the papers filed with the family court). Usually this is done by personally serving your spouse according to the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Typically, you would have a process server or some independent third party serve your spouse by personally handing them the papers.Well, clearly this can’t be done if your spouse is no where to be found. In this case, you must serve them by publication. What that means is that an advertisement or legal notice is run in the legal notice section of a newspaper of “general circulation” in the county where your spouse was last known to reside. In order to run this advertisement; however, you must perform a diligent search for your missing spouse and then file a motion asking the family court’s permission to serve your spouse by publication and including an affidavit stating everything you have done to attempt to locate your spouse.Once your motion has been approved, a legal notice is run one per week for three weeks. At the end of the third week, your spouse has 30 days to respond. If there is no response, then your spouse is in “default” meaning they have not responded and you can proceed with your case.

9/12/10 9/12/10

SC Divorce Law "Reviewed"

This week, writing time is short, so I have set up a series of posts I am calling "Reviewed." We're taking a look back at some of the most popular and frequently sought out posts from UpstateFamilyLawBlog.com about South Carolina divorce and family law issues. I hope you enjoy the look back and if it's your first time checking out the post, I hope you find some helpful information.We'll be back with some new material next week. If you know of some questions you are facing as you approach a divorce or other family law matter like an adoption, child support, or DSS abuse and neglect defense, please leave a comment on this post and I will try to answer it in an upcoming post.

9/11/10 9/11/10

For your reading pleasure this weekend...

Happy Saturday! This weekend, check out the recent post, Presentation and Life Lessons from the Dojo by Garr Reynolds at PresentationZen.com.In his post, Garr talks about seven principles of Judo and using them in life in general and specifically for presentation design. I think there's a strong correlation between the "judo principles" and preparing for a divorce case/trial as well. Here are the 7 principles:

9/8/10 9/8/10

Should I Communicate with my Spouse During Our Divorce?

I think this question will get different answers from different attorneys, and I think the main difference will revolve around the individual attorney's opinion on the "best way" to resolve your marital issues. Here are the two viewpoints:

Do Not Communicate with Your Spouse

A lawyer may recommend that you not communicate with your spouse during the divorce if he/she feels like a trial and decision by a judge or for the lawyers to solely negotiate the outcome of the case are the best ways to resolve your case.Of course, there may be times when you and your spouse do not need to speak with one another regardless of the opportunity to settle. When there is a history of abuse (both mental and physical) or if things always escalate into an argument or a fight then you may want to hold off on working with them.

Communicate with Your Spouse

When an attorney encourages you to speak with your spouse during the course of your divorce case, it is usually because they recognize that you and your spouse know more about your case than anyone else on the earth and that you are in a better position to know what you need in order to resolve your case. All that said; however, your attorney knows what you are entitled to receive in your divorce case, so you should consider your attorney's advice on what not to give up in your negotiations with your spouse.

What Should You Do?

I think it is ultimately up to you. Your attorney may encourage you to communicate with your spouse or he may ask you not to speak to your spouse about your case to allow him to assist you through the negotiations to make sure you aren't taken advantage of by your spouse. You know yourself and if you believe you are likely to be influenced by your spouse to accept something that is not in your best interest or less than you are entitled to, you should probably make that known to your attorney so he knows that you should have limited communication with your spouse on your own when it comes to negotiating in your case.

9/7/10 9/7/10

What Should I Wear to Court?

So you have a hearing in court soon and don't know what to wear? No matter what type of hearing you have in the family court (a temporary hearing or a final hearing) you should dress to make a good impression on the judge. There is no jury in a South Carolina Family Court and the judge will make the final decision in your case.So what should you wear so you make a good first impression? You want to be comfortable, but you also want to make sure that you keep in mind the formality of the event you are attending. Here are my thoughts:Men:

Dress slacks and a button up shirt or a polo style shirt. I don't think it is necessary for you to wear a suit unless you feel comfortable in a suit.
No hats allowed.
No T-shirts, shorts, holy jeans, etc.
Remove earrings and cover tattoos as much as possible. Remember, you are going into a government establishment where many of the personnel are very conservative. Men with earrings tend to rub some people the wrong way.

Women:

You should wear a conservative suit, dress or slacks and blouse. You should not wear anything revealing or "sexy" to court.
No wild, crazy or expensive jewelry

Everyone:

No chewing gum.
Leave your guns, knives, pepper spray, etc. in your car. You're going to have to go through a metal detector before entering the courthouse, so you might as well leave this stuff outside because it's not coming in.
Turn your cell phone off or on silent so it does not go off in the court room. That's a big no no.
Avoid wearing a lot of cologne or after-shave.

9/6/10 9/6/10

Happy Labor Day from the Atkins Law Firm, P.A.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day and enjoys the extra time off and time with friends and lived ones.

9/4/10 9/4/10

5 Cool Family Law Blog Posts from around the Blogosphere

For your weekend reading - here are five great blog posts (in no particular order) related to family law and divorce from around the blogosphere this week. Enjoy!

9/3/10 9/3/10

What To Expect when Going to Court?

This morning I was getting ready for a marathon couple of days. I have hearing this morning in the Spartanburg County Family Court and this afternoon I head over to Laurens County Family Court for a quick hearing. Then, first thing tomorrow it is back to the Greenville County Family Court for a child support hearing. As I was putting my tie on, I realized that this was what I did every day and I knew what was coming, but it hit me that my clients probably had a good deal of anxiety about what to expect.When I work with a client, I always have at least one appointment prior to the hearing to prepare the client for the hearing. We talk about who are judge is going to be and what kinds of questions to expect from them. I also go through who is in the court room and what to expect from the experience.So, what can you expect in your divorce hearing? The answer depends on the type of case you have at the family court as well as whether your case is contested or if you and the opposing party (normally your spouse or former spouse) have reached an agreement on all or just some of the issues.When your case is called you will go into the courtroom and sit at one of the tables in front of the judge. Your spouse will sit at the other table.If your case is a divorce case the judge will then ask both parties if there is anything the court could do to help reconcile the marriage and help get the parties back together again such as marriage counseling or time spent with a minister or priest. Assuming the answer is no to that question, the case will begin.The plaintiff (the person who filed for divorce) will then be called as a witness to lay the groundwork for the case and any other witnesses required will be called at this time as well. After the plaintiff's side questions witnesses, the defendant's side will have an opportunity for cross-examination. When all of the plaintiff's witnesses have been called, the defendant will then have an opportunity to present his/her side of the case.In an uncontested case, there are usually 2 witnesses - the plaintiff and the corroborating witness to confirm the parties have lived separate and apart for more than one year. If the case is contested there may be many witnesses including friends, experts, accountants, and so forth to build up the case for each party.Depending on the county, an uncontested matter may take between 5 and 15 minutes where a contested case could last for days.