New Battle for Those on Coronavirus Front Lines: Child Custody
Interesting article in yesterday’s New York Times about parents using the other parent’s occupation [one involving moderate-to-high risk of exposure to COVID-19] to justify emergency relief changing...
View ArticlePet custody
Local family law attorney Tosha Jean Kotz has an excellent article, “Dogs & Divorce,” in the most recent SC Lawyer magazine. The article briefly discusses the history of how the law has treated...
View ArticleSouth Carolina Supreme Court poised to address arbitration of children’s issues
In 2019, the South Carolina Court of Appeals issued two published opinions holding that child-related family law issues (custody/visitation/child support) could not be arbitrated and that arbitration...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals refuses to reduce Husband’s alimony obligation despite...
The August 18, 2021, Court of Appeals opinion in Weller v. Weller finds that court affirming the family court’s refusal to reduce Husband’s alimony despite Wife’s greatly increased income. Given the...
View ArticleDe Facto Custodian rights are more valuable than Grandparent Rights
Given the phone calls I receive from prospective clients, it appears that many more folks are aware of the concept of grandparent rights than they are of de facto custodian rights. A sizeable portion...
View ArticleSouth Carolina’s De Facto Custodian statute is valuable; its Grandparent...
Because South Carolina’s De Facto Custodian statute and Grandparent Visitation statute both allow the family court to award visitation to non-parents, they are often viewed as similar. However...
View ArticleYou willing to go to jail over that?
It amazes me how unseriously many folks subject to South Carolina child custody orders take the requirement of those orders. Per S.C. Code Ann. § 63-3-620: An adult who wilfully violates, neglects, or...
View ArticleClosely divided South Carolina Supreme Court determines state constitution...
In 1971, South Carolina adopted article I, section 10 as part of the state constitution. That section reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against...
View ArticleFamily law is the trailing indicator of cultural change
Yesterday I lectured for the South Carolina Bar’s annual guardian ad litem training on the topic “Post-COVID Child Custody and Visitation Case Law Update (2020-2022).” Basically, I summarized and...
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...
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