In a dysfunctional parenting relationship, there’s better than even odds that...
Most of my contested custody litigation, especially those requiring trial, involve parents in a dysfunctional co-parenting relationship. The inability of these parents to get along drives the disputes...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals rejects textualist interpretation of South Carolina’s...
The April 12, 2023, Court of Appeals opinion in Taylor v. Taylor attempts to fill an obvious gap in the definition of household member in South Carolina’s Protection from Domestic Abuse statute....
View ArticleCourt of Appeals reverses finding of common-law marriage
In the April 19, 2023, opinion in Sullivan-Carter v. Carter, the Court of Appeals reversed a finding of common-law marriage and vacated the family court’s equitable distribution and attorney fee...
View ArticleThe appellate courts “may find bifurcation in family court is generally...
This week, for the second time in four years, the South Carolina appellate courts published an opinion noting it is generally “ill-advised” for the family court to bifurcate trials. Both times, this...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals, finding exceptional circumstances, affirms joint physical...
In the April 26, 2023, opinion in Greene v. Greene, finding exceptional circumstances, the Court of Appeals affirmed joint physical custody and divided legal custody. Greene has a rather lengthy...
View ArticleYou don’t have to suffer through multiple standby docketings
I’m not a big fan of being on standby dockets. Not only is there the necessity of having to prepare for a trial that may not go forward, there is the dread of not knowing whether that trial will go...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals affirms family court’s denial of custody modification where...
In the July 19, 2023, Court of Appeals opinion in Fossett v. Fossett, the Court of Appeals affirmed the family court’s denial of father’s custody modification request. It did so, in a large part, due...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals affirms denial of retired husband’s alimony reduction request
In the July 26, 2023, Court of Appeals opinion in Downing v. Downing, the Court of Appeals affirmed the family court’s denial of a retired Husband’s alimony reduction request. It is the first reported...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals reverses family court and grants Wife relief from her...
In the August 23, 2023 opinion in Moore v. Smith, the Court of Appeals reversed the family court’s refusal to require Husband to hold Wife harmless on a note encumbering the marital home despite...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals essentially affirms family court on child support and...
I’ve delayed blogging on the August 30, 2023, Court of Appeals opinion in Brantley v. Brantley until remittitur issued because I represented the Appellant on the appeal and I don’t blog on my own...
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