For separation agreements in Charleston, Berkeley & Dorchester counties. Send a confidential message — we'll reply by email or phone, whichever you prefer.
Hall & Means represents clients negotiating separation agreements across Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties. Mary Ann Hall and Jessica Means are Charleston separation agreement attorneys focused on family law — whether you're considering separation as an alternative to divorce, preparing the financial framework before filing, or addressing custody and support without litigation, you'll work directly with your attorney.
Why Hall & Means
Mary Ann Hall and Jessica Means lead Hall & Means together, representing clients through divorce, custody, alimony, and the financial decisions that come with them. Both attorneys focus on family law in the 9th and 1st Judicial Circuit Family Courts, with deep local relationships across mediators, guardians ad litem, and financial professionals throughout the tri-county region.
Meet your attorneys →Built around advocating for our clients in divorce, custody, and family transitions. The Family Law Hub reflects that focus — written for the questions our clients actually ask.
Three-county family law practice across the 9th and 1st Judicial Circuit Family Courts, with a local network of mediators, guardians ad litem, and financial professionals.
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.
What to expect
From the first call to active representation, the path is the same for every client. We tell you what's happening, what it costs, and what choices are yours to make — before we ask you to commit to anything.
Phase 1
You reach out by phone or message. One of our staff or firm team members responds — typical response time within 24 hours. Confidentiality starts with the first interaction. The first conversation is focused on understanding your situation, not selling you on services.
Response within 24 hoursPhase 2
We schedule a 2-hour consultation and review your financial picture and custody status. 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. We lay out what the separation agreement needs to cover: property, support, custody, debts, and contingencies if divorce follows later.
Attorney-client privileged from word onePhase 3
If we're a fit, we put a representation agreement in place and begin drafting. A well-drafted separation agreement anticipates the issues that come up later — that's what court approval turns on.
Drafting on your timelineFinal Phase
We negotiate with opposing counsel on terms you've authorized, revise the draft as needed, and finalize the agreement. Once signed, the agreement binds you both as a contract; once the family court approves it, it is enforceable as a court order. You retain authority over substantive decisions — settlement terms, signatures on agreements, and key strategy choices. We handle procedural matters (drafting iterations, scheduling, extensions to keep negotiations moving) without asking permission for each step. Throughout, you work directly with Mary Ann or Jessica.
Direct attorney access throughoutCommon questions
Short answers to the separation questions Charleston clients ask most, drawn from the South Carolina Code and the family court rules. Every case turns on its own facts. To talk through yours, request a confidential consultation with Hall & Means at (843) 377-1341 or through the contact form on this page — our office is at 1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101, Charleston, SC 29407, in West Ashley.
No. South Carolina courts issue no decree of legal separation, so there is no separate marital status to file for. What a family court can enter is an order of separate maintenance and support. The S.C. Code uses the words as a category of marital litigation in § 63-3-530(A)(2). Spouses under such an order remain married and cannot remarry. Hall & Means handles these actions in Charleston, SC.
A separation agreement can settle how you divide marital property and debts, and whether either spouse pays support. Under “Moseley v. Mosier,” and subject to the court’s approval, spouses may agree to any terms they wish, so long as the court finds the contract was entered fairly, voluntarily and reasonably. Terms about the children work differently.
Not permanently. South Carolina family courts keep continuing jurisdiction to do whatever is in the best interests of the child, regardless of what a separation agreement specifies. That rule comes from “Moseley v. Mosier” and was restated in “Singh v. Singh” (2021), a Charleston County case. Custody, visitation and child support can be revisited. “Singh” also barred sending children’s issues to binding arbitration.
Not for it to be a contract, but approval changes what it is. S.C. Code § 20-3-130(G) lets the Family Court approve agreements bearing on alimony or separate maintenance and support, even when neither spouse files for divorce. A court-approved agreement is enforceable through the court’s contempt power. An unapproved one stays a private contract. Since “Moseley v. Mosier” (1983), labels like “incorporated” have mattered less than approval itself.
It can, if a court approves it. S.C. Code § 20-3-130(G) lets spouses agree in writing, when properly approved by the court, that alimony will not be subject to later modification. In “Rish v. Rish” (2024) the South Carolina Supreme Court held that this restricts the family court’s power, not its jurisdiction, and that a spouse claiming alimony is nonmodifiable must assert that right or risk losing it.
No. South Carolina’s no-fault ground, S.C. Code § 20-3-10(5), requires that the spouses have lived separate and apart without cohabitation for one year. That clock runs on physical separation. Signing an agreement does not start it, shorten it, or pause it, and it does not make a divorce final. The agreement settles terms; the ground still has to be met.
Yes. The formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement is a cutoff written into three parts of the S.C. Code: property acquired later is nonmarital under § 20-3-630(A)(2), later marital misconduct stops counting toward property division under § 20-3-620(B)(2), and adultery after it no longer bars alimony under § 20-3-130(A). Each section also lists other events that can trigger the cutoff sooner.
South Carolina’s appellate courts have held that reconciliation nullifies the parts of a separation agreement dealing with future support, while property provisions already carried out survive, except to the extent the property gains value through the spouses’ joint efforts. That support rule rests on a 1971 decision later overruled in part, and no published South Carolina case since has settled it. Resuming cohabitation also breaks the one-year clock.
No. You can file for divorce in South Carolina without a separation agreement. A divorce needs one of the five grounds in S.C. Code § 20-3-10, such as living separate and apart without cohabitation for one year. An agreement cannot cut that year short. It lets you settle terms yourselves and ask the family court to approve them. Without one, the court decides the disputed issues either spouse raises. Even with an agreement, a divorce that also covers property, support, custody or attorney’s fees needs a hearing under Family Court Rule 28.
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.
Hub article
The one-year separation in § 20-3-10(5) is SC's no-fault divorce ground; signing a separation agreement doesn't start, shorten or satisfy it.
Read article →Hub article
The pre-filing steps that protect your finances, your records, and your access to funds — relevant whether you separate, divorce, or both.
Read article →Hub article
How marital property gets divided under SC law — the same principles that shape a strong separation agreement.
Read article →Get in touch
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Phone
Office
1816 Belgrade Avenue, Ste. 101
Charleston, SC 29407
Hours
Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
