Berkeley County Family Court sits in Moncks Corner. We handle the venue question, the filing and the appearances — send a confidential message.
Goose Creek is in Berkeley County, and Berkeley County Family Court sits in Moncks Corner. This guide covers the venue rule that decides which county hears your case, what the filing costs, the deadlines on a temporary hearing, and how a divorce works when one spouse is stationed at the Weapons Station.
Goose Creek sits entirely inside Berkeley County, so a Goose Creek divorce is heard in Berkeley County Family Court at 300-B California Avenue in Moncks Corner, 9th Judicial Circuit, whenever S.C. Code § 20-3-60 points venue there. Which county hears your case depends on where you and your spouse live. Hall & Means represents Goose Creek clients from Charleston.
The incorporated City of Goose Creek lies entirely within Berkeley County, so its city limits do not cross a county line. That points a Goose Creek case at Berkeley County Family Court, without deciding it. Venue is set by statute, not by where you hire a lawyer.
S.C. Code § 20-3-60 says an action for divorce or for separate support and maintenance must be tried in the county (a) in which the defendant resides at the time the action is commenced, (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 where the defendant resides.
Because the three counties adjoin, prongs (a) and (c) routinely point to different counties after a separation — so a Goose Creek couple who split when one spouse moved to Summerville has a real venue question. Venue is also separate from residency: whether you can file here at all is § 20-3-30 — one year in South Carolina, or three months if both spouses are residents at commencement.
| Berkeley County Family Court | Published detail |
|---|---|
| Courthouse | 300-B California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461 |
| Mailing address | PO Box 219, Moncks Corner, SC 29461 |
| Phone | (843) 719-4500 |
| Office hours | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday |
| Judicial circuit | 9th — Berkeley and Charleston |
| Case records | portal.fccms.sccourts.org |
Berkeley County Clerk of Court, berkeleycountysc.gov/dept/coc/, as of August 25, 2026; confirm before you go.
The mechanics are statewide — South Carolina has one unified Family Court under § 63-3-530. Local is only which clerk takes it.
| Step | What it is | Rule or form |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Summons and Complaint | Opens the case and states the ground | SCCA 400.01 SRL-DIV, SCCA 400.02 SRL-DIV |
| 2. Family Court Coversheet | Required for docketing, served with the Summons and Complaint; divorce is code 110 | SCCA 467 |
| 3. ADR Certificate of Exemption | Only where one of its four grounds applies | SCRFCMFORM02 |
| 4. Financial Declaration | At or before the first hearing, or within 45 days of service, whichever is first | SCCA 430; SCRFC 20 |
| 5. Service | Sheriff, deputy, or any person 18 or older who is neither a party nor an attorney in the action. Personal delivery, or the dwelling or usual abode with a person of suitable age and discretion residing there; return-receipt mail restricted to the addressee, which cannot support a default without a receipt showing acceptance; commercial delivery; or a signed Acceptance of Service | SCRCP 4(c), (d)(1), (d)(8), (d)(9), (j) |
| 6. Answer | 30 days after service. SCRCP 6(e) separately adds five days where a paper is served by mail; whether that reaches this deadline turns on how you were served, so confirm it rather than assuming a flat 35 | SCRCP 12(a), via SCRFC 2(a) |
| What | Amount | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Divorce, annulment, separate support and maintenance | $150 | $100 under § 8-21-310(C)(1) plus $50 under § 14-1-204(B)(1) |
| Defendant’s answer or return | No fee | § 8-21-310(D) |
| Motion for temporary relief — one fee, however much relief it requests | $25 | § 8-21-320; Motion Fee List |
| Court-appointed mediator | $200 per hour, in equal shares unless agreed or ordered otherwise | ADR Rules 9(b), 9(c) |
Sources: the South Carolina Judicial Branch Family Court fee schedule (sccourts.org/courts/trial-courts/family-court/court-fees/), the 2016 Motion Fee List and the S.C. Code, as of August 25, 2026. Fees change — confirm with the Berkeley clerk before filing. Bring cash, a cashier’s check or a money order, not a personal check. If you cannot pay, SCRCP 3(b)(1) is an in forma pauperis motion (SCCA 405), and 3(b)(2) waives fees on a legal aid or pro bono attorney’s written certification.
Yes, if you meet the state’s conditions — and what most people get wrong is who they exclude. The South Carolina Judicial Branch publishes a free self-represented divorce packet, SCCA 400P SRL-DIV (revised 06/2024): 12 pages of instructions and 18 forms, for people who meet all of these.
Having children does not lock you out of the packet, and neither does owning a house. Disagreement does — the packet says that if you have lived apart for less than a year or cannot agree on children, property and debt, doing it yourself is not recommended. Make two copies of the entire packet and take the originals and the copies to the Clerk of Court in that county.
A temporary hearing is set 21 to 45 days from the date the request is filed, under Rule 21 of the South Carolina Rules of Family Court, amended effective October 1, 2025.
| Deadline | Rule 21 |
|---|---|
| Hearing 21 to 45 days after the request is filed | 21(c) |
| Motion and notice served 20 days before; return and any affirmative-relief request, 10 days before | 21(d), (e) |
| Written evidence served and filed 5 days before | 21(f)(2) |
| Evidence confined to affidavits, financial declarations and statutorily required documents such as a parenting plan | 21(f)(1) |
| 15-minute hearing: 10 pages of affidavits; 30-minute: 20 pages; exhibits capped separately at 30 | 21(f)(4) |
A temporary hearing is decided on paper unless the judge allows more for good cause, so the real expense is building that affidavit record, not the $25 fee. Emergency relief without notice runs elsewhere: Rule 21(g) routes an ex parte request through Rule 65, SCRCP, where an order granted without notice expires within the time the court fixes, not to exceed 10 days — extendable for a like period on good cause, or longer if the restrained party consents.
Two things gate a final hearing. Mediation is one: the ADR rules apply “in all counties in South Carolina,” Rule 3(a) subjects contested issues to court-ordered mediation, and Rule 4(d)(2)(A) bars a merits hearing until a Proof of ADR is filed. Rule 3(b) exempts nine categories, and Rule 3(c) allows a case-specific exemption for good cause.
The other is § 20-3-80: no reference before two months after filing, and no final decree before three months — the statute says three months, not 90 days. It also carves out an exception widely reported backwards: where the ground is desertion or one-year separation, the decree may issue once responsive pleadings are filed or default is adjudged. Desertion is a fault ground and it is exempt; only adultery, physical cruelty and habitual drunkenness carry the wait.
Being stationed in South Carolina can satisfy the residency requirement to file here, but it does not by itself let the court divide a military pension. § 20-3-30 carries a second sentence most South Carolina writing skips: for a party stationed here on active duty, “resided” means a continuous presence in the state for the period required, regardless of intent to remain permanently.
Retired pay is federal, and stricter. Under 10 U.S.C. § 1408(c)(4) a court may not divide a member’s disposable retired pay unless it has jurisdiction over the member by reason of residence other than because of military assignment, domicile, or consent — so a pension division ordinarily rests on domicile or consent. Two protections matter early. On the member’s application the court must stay the action at least 90 days, but only where two letters are filed: the member’s, stating how current duty materially affects the ability to appear, and the commanding officer’s, stating that duty prevents appearance and that military leave is not authorized (50 U.S.C. § 3932(b)). And where a member does not appear, no judgment may be entered until the court appoints an attorney for them (§ 3931(b)(2)). The “10/10 rule” in § 1408(d)(2) limits payment by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, not entitlement.
Joint Base Charleston (now Joint Base Lindsey Graham) publishes a Weapons Station legal office with a Goose Creek mailing address — 2316 Red Bank Road, Goose Creek, SC 29445, (843) 794-7500 (628th Air Base Wing SJA fact sheet, jbcharleston.jb.mil, August 25, 2026). It advises active duty members, retirees and their families on divorce, separation and child support, but states that legal assistance attorneys cannot represent you in court. More on military divorce in South Carolina.
Both are factor-driven. Alimony comes from § 20-3-130, listing the forms a court may award — periodic, lump-sum, rehabilitative, reimbursement, and separate maintenance and support — and setting out 13 factors in subsection (C). Adultery bars alimony only where it occurs before the earliest of the formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement, the entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance and support, or a permanent order approving such an agreement (§ 20-3-130(A)); the bar is conditional, not absolute. Child support runs on the Income Shares model in § 63-17-470 and the statewide DSS Guidelines; the shared-parenting worksheet (Worksheet C) applies where each parent has the child for at least 109 overnights a year, and both parties file the SCCA 430 Financial Declaration. See our alimony and spousal support page and how South Carolina calculates child support.
The variable is how much of the case is contested.
Cutting the other way: the self-help path where the one-year ground and genuine agreement both exist; an in forma pauperis order, which also exempts you from mediator fees under ADR Rule 9(d); and settling at mediation.
Questions we hear
Your case does, where Berkeley County is the correct venue: the Berkeley County Clerk of Court publishes one Family Court address, 300-B California Avenue in Moncks Corner. South Carolina has no Family Court e-filing, so the papers go in there on paper. Whether you appear in person depends on the hearing.
Ladson spans Berkeley and Charleston counties only, not Dorchester, despite how often it is listed with three. The third county comes from the USPS Ladson mailing area, a postal construct rather than a boundary. A ZIP code is never a venue fact — check the parcel record.
Possibly. Section 20-3-60(b) allows the action to be tried where the plaintiff resides when the defendant is a nonresident or after due diligence cannot be found. You still clear § 20-3-30 separately: one year of South Carolina residency, or three months if both spouses are residents at commencement.
No. SCRFC 17(a) provides that even where the defendant files no answer, notice of the merits hearing must still be given, and the defendant may be heard on custody, visitation, alimony, support, equitable distribution and fees. Default in family court is not the forfeiture people expect.
Hall & Means concentrates in family law, and we represent clients across Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties from our West Ashley office at 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, Charleston, SC 29407. Where a case belongs in Berkeley County Family Court, we work the venue question, the filing and the appearances in Moncks Corner.
Every divorce turns on its own facts. To talk through yours confidentially and without obligation, call (843) 377-1341 or send a confidential message. See also our Charleston divorce practice, filing for divorce in Berkeley County, and how to file for divorce in Charleston County.
Last reviewed: August 25, 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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