Charleston County Family Court, the venue rule that decides where your case is heard, and what a complex marital estate actually takes.
If you live in Mount Pleasant, this page covers the venue rule that decides which county hears your divorce, how the Charleston County Family Court handles filings, how a business or retirement account is apportioned under South Carolina law, and what actually drives the cost.
Mount Pleasant sits entirely inside Charleston County, whose Family Court is at 100 Broad Street, Suite 143, in downtown Charleston — the 9th Judicial Circuit. Venue is set by S.C. Code § 20-3-60, not by your address alone, so a Mount Pleasant case can land in another county. Hall & Means represents Mount Pleasant clients from our West Ashley office in Charleston, SC.
Usually Charleston County, because Mount Pleasant is an incorporated town lying wholly within it. But the town you live in is not what decides it. Venue is fixed by S.C. Code § 20-3-60, which sends the action to the county:
Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties adjoin, so once one spouse moves out, prongs (a) and (c) routinely point at two different counties. A Mount Pleasant spouse whose husband or wife has moved to Goose Creek may be facing a Berkeley County filing.
Venue is also a different question from residency: § 20-3-30 governs whether you may file in South Carolina at all — one year of residence, or three months if both spouses are residents at commencement.
We also represent clients on Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, Daniel Island and James Island. Daniel Island is the one that catches people out: it is part of the City of Charleston, but it sits in Berkeley County, so a Daniel Island address points at Berkeley County, not Charleston, once § 20-3-60 is applied to it. James Island is Charleston County throughout.
A ZIP code is never a venue fact — postal boundaries are not county lines. If you are unsure which county an address falls in, the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder at geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/ answers it at the address level, and Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester each publish a parcel search. We confirm the county for both addresses before filing.
At 100 Broad Street in downtown Charleston, and the suite number matters: Suite 143 is Family Court, Suite 106 is Common Pleas and General Sessions. The Family Court line is (843) 958-4400; (843) 958-5000 is the Circuit switchboard.
| Charleston County Family Court | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 100 Broad Street, Suite 143, Charleston, SC 29401-2265 |
| Phone | (843) 958-4400 |
| Hours | 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday |
| Judicial circuit | 9th, with Berkeley County (Dorchester is the 1st) |
| Family case records | Charleston County publishes a Family Court Case Search at courtplus.org; SC Judicial routes family records to portal.fccms.sccourts.org |
The Tri-County spans two judicial circuits, not one, so Charleston and Dorchester cases are administered separately under identical state law. And there is no Family Court e-filing in South Carolina — the statewide system serves the Court of Common Pleas — so every divorce is filed on paper.
The mechanics are statewide; only the courthouse changes. Our article on how to file for divorce in Charleston County walks the same sequence step by step.
| Stage | What it is | Rule or form |
|---|---|---|
| Commencing the action | A Summons and Complaint is filed with the Clerk of Court | — |
| Coversheet | Required for docketing and served on the defendant with the Summons and Complaint; the nature-of-action code for Divorce is 110 | SCCA 467, Family Court Coversheet (Rev. 11/2024) |
| Financial disclosure | Filed and served at or before the first hearing, or within 45 days of the complaint being served, whichever comes first | SCCA 430, Financial Declaration (Rev. 11/2024); SCRFC 20(b) |
| Mediation certificate | The Certificate of Exemption carries exactly four grounds; ADR Rule 3(b) separately exempts nine categories and 3(c) allows a motion to exempt for good cause | SCRFCMFORM02, Certificate of Exemption |
| Service | By the sheriff, a deputy, or any non-party who is not an attorney and is at least 18; by personal delivery or at the dwelling; by certified mail, return receipt requested, with delivery restricted to the addressee (a default needs a receipt showing acceptance); or by written acceptance | SCRCP 4(c), 4(d), 4(j) |
| Answer | Served within 30 days after the complaint is served. A separate rule adds five days where a paper is served by mail; whether it applies is a question for your attorney | SCRCP 12(a); SCRCP 6(e) |
| Waiting rules | No reference before two months after filing; no final decree before three months — except on the grounds of desertion or one-year separation | S.C. Code § 20-3-80 |
| The written order | Issued as soon as possible after the hearing, and not later than 30 days after it | SCRFC 26(c) |
South Carolina apportions marital property equitably, which may or may not mean equally. It is not a community-property state and there is no 50/50 default. The court divides the marital estate as it considers equitable under S.C. Code §§ 20-3-610 to 20-3-680, weighing the fifteen factors at § 20-3-620(B) — among them each spouse’s contribution to the marital property, including as a homemaker; earning potential; vested retirement benefits; tax consequences; and marital debts. Our guide to equitable distribution in South Carolina covers that list in full.
Where a household holds an operating business, stock-based compensation or a large retirement account, the work happens before any division: each asset must be characterized, then valued.
| Generally marital (§ 20-3-630) | Generally nonmarital (§ 20-3-630) |
|---|---|
| Property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, whoever holds title | Property acquired before the marriage and kept separate |
| Marital debt acquired during the marriage | Third-party gifts to one spouse, and inheritances |
| The share of a retirement account earned during the marriage | Property excluded by a valid pre- or postnuptial agreement |
Two doctrines complicate that table. Separate property can be transmuted into marital property if it is commingled so as to show an intent to treat it as marital, or used in support of the marriage; the burden falls on the party claiming transmutation. And the increase in value of separate property during the marriage, where it is attributable to marital effort, can itself be apportioned. Both are fact-intensive and case-law-driven. Our high-asset divorce page describes how we staff that work.
Tracing funds between accounts, lifestyle analysis, and finding income that never appears on a tax return — the evidence that shapes how an asset is characterized under § 20-3-630.
Business and professional-practice valuation, and real-estate appraisal. A closely held Mount Pleasant company has no market price, so someone has to establish one.
Income imputation where a spouse’s earning capacity is disputed, and the tax consequences of a settlement structure — itself a § 20-3-620(B) factor.
We assemble that team around the case; you work with Mary Ann Hall or Jessica Means directly.
A temporary hearing addresses the interim relief a spouse has asked for while the case is pending. It runs on an amended SCRFC 21, adopted by order dated 29 April 2025 and applicable to any request for a temporary hearing submitted on or after 1 October 2025.
| Rule 21 step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| The hearing itself | Not sooner than 21 days and not later than 45 days from the date the request is filed — 21(c) |
| Motion and notice served | At least 20 days before the hearing — 21(d) |
| Return, and any request for affirmative relief | No later than 10 days prior — 21(e) |
| All written evidence served and filed | No later than 5 days before — 21(f)(2); reply affidavits may be served at the hearing |
The evidence is on paper. Rule 21(f)(1) confines it to affidavits, financial declarations and other statutorily required documents such as a parenting plan, though a judge may permit or require more for good cause. Page limits track the hearing’s length: a 15-minute hearing carries 10 pages of affidavits and a 30-minute hearing 20 pages, with anything longer needing the chief judge for administrative purposes to approve the time and any increase. Parenting plans, financial declarations and fee affidavits fall outside that cap; exhibits are capped at 30 pages.
Those page limits are why a temporary hearing costs what it does. The motion fee is a single $25 charge however many forms of relief you request; the expense is the record.
The public costs are small and published; what moves the number is how much contested work the case takes. Our guide to preparing financially for a divorce is worth reading first.
| Public cost | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Filing a divorce action | $150 | SC Judicial Department Family Court fee schedule; S.C. Code § 8-21-310(C)(1) ($100) plus § 14-1-204(B)(1) ($50) |
| Filing an answer or return as the defendant | No fee | S.C. Code § 8-21-310(D) |
| Motion for temporary relief (one fee, all standard relief) | $25 | SC Judicial Department Motion Fee List; S.C. Code § 8-21-320 |
| Sheriff’s service of a Summons and Complaint | $15 initial, $5 per later attempt, $25 statutory maximum | S.C. Code § 23-19-10(d); Charleston County posts $15 |
| Court-appointed mediator | $200 per hour, in equal shares per party unless the parties agree or the court orders otherwise | SC ADR Rule 9(b), 9(c) |
Read on the primary source as of 25 August 2026: sccourts.org/courts/trial-courts/family-court/court-fees/, sccourts.org/media/ctldbmow/motionfeelist2016.pdf, sccourts.org/resources/judicial-community/court-rules/adr/rule-9/, and S.C. Code §§ 8-21-310, 8-21-320, 14-1-204 and 23-19-10 at scstatehouse.gov. Fees change; confirm the schedule before filing.
Mediation sets much of the calendar. ADR Rule 3(a) subjects contested issues in domestic relations actions to court-ordered mediation in all counties in South Carolina, other than the categories Rule 3(b) exempts or a case excused for good cause under Rule 3(c). Rule 4(d)(2)(A) then provides that the court shall not schedule a hearing on the merits until a Proof of ADR has been filed.
Three things then reliably raise the total. Contested temporary relief, where the cost is attorney time behind the Rule 21 record rather than the $25. A guardian ad litem, appointed only where the court finds it would otherwise not be fully informed and a substantial dispute exists, or where both parties consent — the judge sets the rate and an initial fee authorisation in the appointment order, and no statute caps it. And the depth of valuation work a complex estate needs.
Attorney fees can be shifted, but never as a certainty: § 20-3-130(H) lets the court, after considering both parties’ financial resources and marital fault, order one to pay a reasonable amount toward the other’s fees and costs, and § 20-3-145 makes that award a lien on the payer’s property.
South Carolina publishes no average filing-to-decree figure, so we will not give you one. At Hall & Means an initial retainer is quoted at your two-hour consultation, on the facts of your case — initial, because the final cost depends on how the case unfolds. For the wider picture, see our Charleston divorce overview.
A Charleston County case is heard at the Charleston County Family Court, 100 Broad Street, Suite 143, in downtown Charleston. Mount Pleasant lies entirely in Charleston County, but whether your case is venued there depends on where you and your spouse live, under S.C. Code 20-3-60. South Carolina has no Family Court e-filing, so every divorce is filed on paper.
Then venue may not be Charleston County. S.C. Code 20-3-60 sets three prongs: the county where the defendant resides when the action is commenced; the plaintiff’s county if the defendant is a nonresident or cannot be found after due diligence; or the county where the parties last resided together. We confirm which prong applies before filing.
The case still moves, and your spouse does not automatically lose. SCRCP 12(a) gives a defendant 30 days after service to serve an answer. Under SCRFC 17(a), a defendant who files no answer must still be given notice of the merits hearing and may be heard there on custody, visitation, alimony, support, equitable distribution and counsel fees.
Yes, if the two of you agree. The SC Judicial Branch’s self-represented packet, SCCA 400P SRL-DIV, is written for couples filing on the one-year continuous separation ground who have either no marital property and debt or an agreement on dividing it, and either no children or an agreement on custody, visitation and Guidelines-compliant support. Disagreement is the disqualifier, not children or a house.
Hall & Means concentrates in family law and represents clients across Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties from 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, Charleston, SC 29407, in West Ashley. If you live in Mount Pleasant and want to know which county will hear your case and what your marital estate consists of, call (843) 377-1341 or send a confidential message. We will talk it through confidentially, without obligation.
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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