Child Custody & Visitation Attorneys
At Hall & Means, we know how important your children are to you. We also know how important it is for you to spend time with your children and to have input into the decisions that will impact your children’s lives. We have many years of combined experience dealing with parenting schedules, custody arrangements, and visitation issues.
South Carolina’s Child Custody Laws
In South Carolina, when a child is born during a marriage, each parent has full custody rights until a family court order specifies otherwise. South Carolina statute §63-5-30 provides:
The mother and father are the joint natural guardians of their minor children and are equally charged with the welfare and education of their minor children and the care and management of the estates of their minor children; and the mother and father have equal power, rights, and duties, and neither parent has any right paramount to the right of the other concerning the custody of the minor or the control of the services or the earnings of the minor or any other matter affecting the minor. Each parent, whether the custodial or noncustodial parent of the child, has equal access and the same right to obtain all educational records and medical records of their minor children and the right to participate in their children’s school activities unless prohibited by order of the court. Neither parent shall forcibly take a child from the guardianship of the parent legally entitled to custody of the child.
If the child is born out of wedlock, then South Carolina law, §63-17-20(B), gives custody to the mother until a family court orders otherwise:
Unless the court orders otherwise, the custody of an illegitimate child is solely in the natural mother unless the mother has relinquished her rights to the child. If paternity has been acknowledged or adjudicated, the father may petition the court for rights of visitation or custody in a proceeding before the court apart from an action to establish paternity.
Lawyers for Child Visitation & Custody
Custody and visitation are no longer simply “standard” or “every other weekend” as they were in the past. These days, the court may order week-on, week-off parenting schedules depending on several factors including the proximity of parents’ homes, work schedules, each parent’s relationship with the children, and other factors that are in your children’s best interests. To find out more about your rights as a parent and what we can do to help, contact our custody attorneys today.
Child Support Lawyers
At Hall & Means, we understand that one of your main concerns is how your divorce will affect your children beginning with how you will support them. South Carolina law also recognizes that a child’s best interest is served when both parents meet the child’s financial needs. Our family law attorneys are familiar with every nuance of the child support guidelines and we will make certain the amount of support you pay or are paid will be fair.
Calculation of Child Support in South Carolina
South Carolina’s child support guidelines outline how much money is expected for the support and maintenance of your children. Each parent’s income is entered into the South Carolina Child Support Worksheet, which serves as a guideline for calculating child support. Expenses for the children such as child care, health insurance premiums, and any extraordinary expenses are also included in the Child cheap jerseys Support Worksheet and affect the final wholesale mlb jerseys child support obligation. Other factors include how much time each parent. Within this framework, there is room to adjust for extracurricular activities and children with special needs, as well as other cheap jerseys issues you and your spouse feel need to be addressed.
Attorneys for Modification of Child Support
Over the years, your children’s needs may change or your ability to pay may change. If this happens, you may petition the court for a modification of your previous child support order to address this change. For any modification of a court order, there must be proof of a substantial change in circumstance such as if either parent lost his or her job or if a child no longer requires full-time child care. Also, if a parent relocates, this may impact your child support.
If there is a substantial change in your circumstances, we can petition the family court and negotiate with your spouse and his or her lawyer to adjust the child support payment, custody, visitation and any other aspects of your previous order that are no longer workable to fit your needs. We’ll also give you a real-world assessment of what the family court will accept and what the other parent may be entitled to.