SC Bar Family Law 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under South Carolina's alimony statute, which factor automatically terminates periodic alimony by operation of law?
- Remarriage of the supported spouse (Correct answer)
- Retirement of the paying spouse
- Cohabitation of the supported spouse for 30 days
- The supported spouse obtaining full-time employment
Correct answer: Remarriage of the supported spouse
Periodic alimony terminates automatically upon the remarriage of the supported spouse or the death of either spouse.
Question 2: In South Carolina, continued cohabitation by a supported spouse with a romantic partner terminates periodic alimony after what statutory period of residing together?
- Ninety or more consecutive days (Correct answer)
- Thirty or more consecutive days
- Six months
- One year
Correct answer: Ninety or more consecutive days
S.C. Code § 20-3-150 provides that alimony ends when the supported spouse resides with another person in a romantic relationship for 90 or more consecutive days.
Question 3: Husband and Wife sign a premarital agreement in which Wife waives alimony. At divorce, Wife challenges the agreement. Under South Carolina law, the agreement will be enforced unless:
- It was not entered voluntarily, was unconscionable, or was based on inadequate financial disclosure (Correct answer)
- Either party had independent counsel
- It was signed more than one year before the wedding
- It addresses property division as well as alimony
Correct answer: It was not entered voluntarily, was unconscionable, or was based on inadequate financial disclosure
South Carolina courts enforce premarital agreements that are voluntary, fair, and made with full financial disclosure.
Question 4: In South Carolina, a common-law marriage entered into after July 24, 2019 is:
- Invalid, because the Supreme Court of South Carolina prospectively abolished common-law marriage in Stone v. Thompson (Correct answer)
- Valid if the couple cohabited for at least ten years
- Valid if the couple held themselves out as married
- Voidable at the option of either party
Correct answer: Invalid, because the Supreme Court of South Carolina prospectively abolished common-law marriage in Stone v. Thompson
Stone v. Thompson (2019) prospectively abolished common-law marriage in South Carolina while preserving those validly formed before the decision.
Question 5: A South Carolina family court awards custody to Mother. Father later seeks a custody modification. What must Father show?
- A substantial change in circumstances materially affecting the child's welfare since the prior order (Correct answer)
- That he can now provide a higher standard of living
- That the child, now age 13, prefers to live with him
- That Mother has begun dating someone new
Correct answer: A substantial change in circumstances materially affecting the child's welfare since the prior order
Custody modification requires a substantial, material change in circumstances affecting the child's welfare, with the best interest of the child controlling.
Question 6: Under the UCCJEA as adopted in South Carolina, a child's 'home state' for initial custody jurisdiction is the state where the child lived with a parent for at least how long immediately before the proceeding commenced?
- Six consecutive months (Correct answer)
- One year
- Ninety days
- Three consecutive months
Correct answer: Six consecutive months
The UCCJEA defines home state as where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the custody proceeding.
Question 7: In South Carolina, child support obligations generally terminate when the child:
- Turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later, subject to statutory limits (Correct answer)
- Turns 18 in all circumstances
- Turns 21
- Becomes eligible for a driver's license
Correct answer: Turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later, subject to statutory limits
Support continues until age 18 but extends through high school graduation (or the end of the school year after the child turns 19), with exceptions for disability or emancipation.
SC Bar Family Law 3
Under South Carolina's alimony statute, which factor automatically terminates periodic alimony by operation of law?