Child Support Attorneys in Charleston, SC

A Charleston child support attorney helps a parent establish, modify or enforce a support order in the Charleston County Family Court. The guidelines are the starting point: under S.C. Code § 63-17-470(A), the guideline amount is presumed correct unless applying it is shown to be unjust or inappropriate. Hall & Means represents parents from our West Ashley office in Charleston, SC.

When a lawyer matters in a South Carolina child support case

DSS notes that most parents agree on support using the guidelines. Counsel matters most when they cannot, or when the inputs are disputed:

• Contested income. The guidelines use a parent’s actual gross income, or potential income if the court finds the parent voluntarily unemployed or underemployed (S.C. Code Ann. Regs. 114-4720(A)(1), (A)(5)). To impute income, the court should consider factors such as earnings history, job skills, education, health and the local job market.
• Business income. For a business owner, gross income is gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary expenses, with accelerated depreciation and investment tax credits added back, and it “may differ from the determination of business income for tax purposes” (114-4720(A)(4)). We work with forensic accountants when the books need tracing.
• A deviation. A judge may award a different amount on a showing that the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate; an award that varies significantly needs written findings stating the guideline amount and the reason (S.C. Code § 63-17-470(A)). Grounds include educational expenses, consumer debts, extraordinary medical expenses and alimony (§ 63-17-470(C)), and deviation “should be the exception rather than the rule” (114-4710(B)).
• High combined income. The guidelines calculate support for combined parental gross income of up to $40,000 a month ($480,000 a year); above that, “courts should determine child support awards on a case-by-case basis” (114-4710(A)(3)).
• A parent in another state. Under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the South Carolina court that issued the controlling order keeps continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify it while either party or the child lives here, unless all the parties file their consent for another state’s court to take over (S.C. Code § 63-17-3050). Another state’s order must be registered here first, and can be modified here only in limited situations (§§ 63-17-3830, 63-17-3850).
• DSS in the case. In a Title IV-D case, DSS’s Child Support Services Division has its own jurisdiction to establish and enforce support (S.C. Code § 63-17-710). Where support rights are assigned to the State, the State “represents the public interest,” and the assignment creates no attorney-client relationship with the custodial parent, the child or any other party (§ 43-5-590(j)).

Modifying a child support order in South Carolina

The Family Court may modify a support order “upon a showing of changed circumstances” (S.C. Code § 63-17-310). The Judicial Branch’s self-help packets put it plainly: “you must show a substantial change of circumstances.” Their examples include a job lost through no fault of your own, a large change in income, a child moving into the other parent’s home, and a medical condition that limits work.

Three rules shape the timing:

• A new guidelines schedule is not enough on its own. S.C. Code § 63-17-470(B): “Application of these guidelines to an existing child support order, in and of itself, is not considered a change in circumstances for the modification of that existing order, except in a Title IV-D case.”
• Relief runs from filing and service. “No such modification is effective as to any installment accruing prior to filing and service of the action for modification” (§ 63-17-310).
• A contempt hearing is not the place to ask. Under the official note to SCRFC Rule 14, a request to change the amount “should be brought before the court by the filing of a Summons and Complaint as in any other modification action.”

The Judicial Branch publishes Self-Represented Litigant Child Support Modification Packets for an increase or a decrease. They warn: “You are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney before filing any legal matter,” and note that the other parent can file a counterclaim asking for the opposite change. In a Title IV-D case, either parent may instead send DSS a written request for modification by certified mail (S.C. Code § 63-17-830(A)).

Enforcing a child support order that is not being paid

• The clerk’s monthly review. For support paid through the clerk of court, SCRFC Rule 24 has the clerk review accounts at least monthly and, once a payment is missed and five working days have passed, issue a rule to show cause with “the same force and effect as a rule to show cause issued by a judge.”
• Contempt. An adult who “wilfully” disobeys a lawful court order may be held in contempt and sentenced to up to one year in a local detention facility, a fine of up to $1,500, up to 300 hours of public works, or a combination (S.C. Code § 63-3-620).
• Income withholding. Orders in private cases issued or modified after January 3, 1994 carry immediate income withholding unless the court finds good cause not to require it or both parents agree in writing to an alternative arrangement (S.C. Code § 63-17-1420(A)).
• DSS remedies. DSS states that remedies other than income withholding, a rule to show cause and state tax offset “are available in CSSD cases only.” In Title IV-D cases the Code adds license revocation (§ 63-17-1060) and credit-bureau reporting (§ 63-17-2510), and DSS files notice of child support liens on the paying parent’s property (§§ 63-17-2710, 63-17-2730).

For a parent who owes support, § 63-17-310 also lets the Family Court hold an arrearage in abeyance, and the court’s packet suggests talking to a lawyer if you have “a large arrearage or a bench warrant.”

How Hall & Means handles a child support case

We represent parents who receive support and parents who pay it, on its own or within a custody case or divorce; see our pages for a child custody attorney in Charleston and for Charleston divorce lawyers.

• Direct attorney access. You work with Mary Ann or Jessica. Your calls and emails are returned by your attorney — not screened by a paralegal, not routed to an associate.
• The Charleston County Family Court and the Tri-County. We appear in the Charleston County Family Court at 100 Broad Street and represent parents across Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties, in the 9th and 1st Judicial Circuits.
• The financial record. We prepare the financial declaration SCRFC Rule 20(a) requires when finances are at issue, and the income evidence behind it: pay records, tax returns and business books.
• A consultation built around your order. We schedule a 2-hour consultation and review your current order and what has changed. An initial retainer is quoted at that consultation, based on the facts of your case — initial because the final cost depends on how the case unfolds.

Request a Confidential Consultation With a Charleston Child Support Attorney

Hall & Means focuses on family law and represents parents across Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties from 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, Charleston, SC 29407, in West Ashley. Call (843) 377-1341 or send a confidential message to request a confidential consultation.

Last reviewed: October 20, 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.