Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester — every town we serve, the court that hears it, and the statute that decides which one.
South Carolina has one statewide Family Court, and which county hears a divorce is set by statute rather than by your mailing address. This page maps the Tri-County communities we serve to their counties, gives you the three courthouses, and links the guide for each one.
Hall & Means represents family-law clients across Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties from one office at 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, in West Ashley, Charleston, SC 29407. South Carolina has a single statewide Family Court. Which county hears a divorce or separate-support action is set by S.C. Code § 20-3-60 — not by where your lawyer’s office sits.
For a divorce or an action for separate support and maintenance, the county South Carolina’s venue statute points to, applied to where you and your spouse live. The town on your mailing address is not the answer, and neither is your ZIP code — a postal area is not a county line.
S.C. Code § 20-3-60 reads: “Actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony or for separate support and maintenance must be tried in the county (a) in which the defendant resides at the time of the commencement of the action, (b) in which the plaintiff resides if the defendant is a nonresident or after due diligence cannot be found, or (c) in which the parties last resided together as husband and wife unless the plaintiff is a nonresident, in which case it must be brought in the county in which the defendant resides.”
Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester adjoin, so once one spouse moves out, prongs (a) and (c) routinely point at two different counties. Venue is also separate from your right to file in South Carolina at all — that is § 20-3-30: the plaintiff must have resided in South Carolina for a year before commencing the action, or three months where both spouses are South Carolina residents when it begins.
Applying § 20-3-60 means knowing which county each spouse’s address is actually in. Several places here cross county lines:
| City or town | County | Courthouse for that county |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Pleasant | Charleston only | Charleston County Family Court |
| North Charleston | Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley — confirm your address | Follows the county |
| Summerville | Dorchester, Berkeley and Charleston — confirm your address | Follows the county |
| Goose Creek | Berkeley only | Berkeley County Family Court |
| Moncks Corner | Berkeley only | Berkeley County Family Court |
| Hanahan | Berkeley only | Berkeley County Family Court |
| Ladson | Berkeley and Charleston only — not Dorchester | Follows the county |
| Daniel Island | Berkeley (it is part of the City of Charleston) | Berkeley County Family Court |
| West Ashley | Charleston | Charleston County Family Court |
| James Island | Charleston only | Charleston County Family Court |
| Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach | Charleston only | Charleston County Family Court |
| Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island | Charleston only | Charleston County Family Court |
County assignments for the incorporated places and the Ladson CDP come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 place-to-county file, read on August 25, 2026; West Ashley and Daniel Island are neighborhoods rather than Census places, verified separately. Two catch people out. Ladson is widely described as spanning three counties; the Census file lists two, and the third is a USPS ZIP-area artifact.
The right-hand column tells you which courthouse serves a county. It does not decide your case: § 20-3-60 points to the county where the defendant resides — or, where the defendant is a nonresident or, after due diligence, cannot be found, where the plaintiff resides — or where the parties last resided together, so both addresses matter. Near a county line, the U.S. Census Bureau’s free address geocoder at geocoding.geo.census.gov answers it at the street level.
South Carolina has one Family Court of statewide jurisdiction under S.C. Code § 63-3-530, organized into 16 judicial circuits. The Tri-County spans two of them, so Charleston and Dorchester cases are administered separately under identical state law.
100 Broad Street, Suite 143, Charleston, SC 29401-2265
(843) 958-4400
9th Judicial Circuit, with Berkeley County
The suite number is load-bearing: Suite 143 is Family Court, Suite 106 is Common Pleas and General Sessions. (843) 958-5000 reaches the Circuit switchboard, not the family division.
Berkeley County Courthouse, 300-B California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461
(843) 719-4500
9th Judicial Circuit, with Charleston County
The “-B” is part of the address — plain 300 California Avenue is a different county facility. The Berkeley clerk also opens at 9:00, half an hour later than the Charleston and Dorchester clerks.
Troy Knight Judicial Complex, 212 Deming Way, Summerville, SC 29483
(843) 832-0360
1st Judicial Circuit, with Calhoun and Orangeburg counties
Dorchester’s Family Court is in Summerville, not at the county seat in St. George, which holds Circuit Court and the main Clerk of Court office about 25 miles away.
Addresses, phones and circuits were read on charlestoncounty.org, berkeleycountysc.gov and dorchestercountysc.gov on August 25, 2026. Confirm before you travel.
Mount Pleasant lies wholly inside Charleston County, whose Family Court is downtown on Broad Street — though where a case is tried still turns on § 20-3-60. The page covers how a marital business, executive compensation or a retirement account is apportioned, and who values them.
North Charleston spans Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley counties, so a North Charleston address does not by itself point at a court — § 20-3-60 does. The page walks all three courthouses and covers military divorce at Joint Base Charleston (now Joint Base Lindsey Graham).
Summerville also crosses three county lines, with most of its census blocks in Dorchester County. Dorchester County Family Court is in Summerville itself, at the Troy Knight Judicial Complex — the page covers filing there and the temporary-hearing schedule.
The City of Goose Creek sits entirely inside Berkeley County, whose Family Court is in Moncks Corner rather than Goose Creek. The page covers filing costs and the deadlines that govern a temporary hearing.
Moncks Corner is in Berkeley County and is where the Berkeley County Family Court sits, on California Avenue. The page reads the venue prongs against a Berkeley household and covers what belongs to the marital estate.
We also represent clients in the surrounding communities: West Ashley and James Island (Charleston County), Daniel Island and Hanahan (Berkeley County), Ladson (Berkeley or Charleston County), and the beach towns of Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island and Seabrook Island (all Charleston County).
The fixed court costs, what a mediator or a guardian ad litem adds, and how retainers actually work. It also covers what raises and lowers the total, and the fee waiver available where cost is the obstacle.
Filing while stationed at Joint Base Charleston, and what federal law does and does not let a South Carolina court divide. It covers military retired pay, the Thrift Savings Plan, VA disability, TRICARE and deployment protections.
For the representation itself, start with the page on our divorce lawyers in Charleston, SC; child custody, alimony and high-asset divorce each have a page of their own.
Common questions
Where a lawyer’s office sits decides nothing about your case. South Carolina has one Family Court of statewide jurisdiction under S.C. Code § 63-3-530, so the same statutes govern in all three counties. In a divorce, venue is set by § 20-3-60, applied to where you and your spouse live. Hall & Means represents clients in all three Family Courts.
Charleston and Berkeley counties are both in South Carolina’s 9th Judicial Circuit. Dorchester County is in the 1st, which it shares with Calhoun and Orangeburg counties. South Carolina has 16 circuits in all. The Tri-County is not one circuit — it spans two — so Charleston and Dorchester cases are administered separately under identical state law.
It depends which prong of § 20-3-60 fits your facts. Prong (a) sends the action to the county where the defendant resides when it is commenced. Prong (c) sends it to the county where you last resided together as husband and wife. Because these counties adjoin, those two prongs often point at different counties.
Hall & Means is at 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, Charleston, SC 29407, in the West Ashley area of the city. It is one office, and it serves all three Tri-County Family Courts — Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester. To reach us, call (843) 377-1341 or send a confidential message from this page.
We represent clients in all three Tri-County Family Courts. That covers Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek, Moncks Corner, Hanahan, Ladson, Daniel Island, James Island and the beach towns. Which courthouse hears a divorce is a separate question, decided by § 20-3-60 applied to both spouses’ addresses.
Most people arrive here with one question: which court is mine? Settle it early: the answer changes the courthouse and the clerk, and may change the circuit as well — and the statute has to be read against both addresses before a complaint is filed.
To request a confidential consultation, call Hall & Means at (843) 377-1341 or send a confidential message. We work with clients across Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties from our West Ashley office at 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, Charleston, SC 29407.
Last reviewed: October 16, 2026.
This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. South Carolina law changes and every case turns on its specific facts. Consult a licensed South Carolina family-law attorney about your situation.
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1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101
Charleston, SC 29407
Hours
Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
