By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
A year in South Carolina before filing, shorter if you both live here, and a full year already separated for a no-fault divorce. South Carolina offers separate maintenance instead of legal separation.
South Carolina asks for something most states don't: a full year of living separate and apart before a no-fault divorce can be granted — which makes early preparation, not speed, the thing that actually helps you here.
| Residency requirement | One spouse must have lived in South Carolina for at least 1 year before filing; if both spouses are SC residents, only 3 months is required (S.C. Code § 20-3-30). |
|---|---|
| Grounds | One no-fault ground — living separate and apart without cohabitation for 1 continuous year — plus four fault grounds: adultery, desertion (1 year), physical cruelty, and habitual drunkenness/drug use (S.C. Code § 20-3-10). |
| Waiting period | No-fault divorce requires the couple to already be separated 1 full year before filing; fault-based divorce can be filed immediately if grounds are proven. South Carolina has no separate 'legal separation' status — the court can instead issue an Order for Separate Support and Maintenance. |
| Legal separation | South Carolina does not offer legal separation. It offers separate maintenance instead — a court action that can settle support and, depending on the case, related issues, while leaving the marriage in place. It generally will not divide marital property; that still takes a divorce. |
| If you were never married | South Carolina does not create common-law marriage, and living together gives neither partner property or support rights. Claims rest on agreements between you. A common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them is generally still recognised. |
| Where you file | Family Court in the county where the defendant resides, where the plaintiff resides (if the defendant is a nonresident), or where the couple last lived together as spouses (S.C. Code § 20-3-60). |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file your opening divorce document. Set by regulation and revised from time to time. A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford it (Form SCCA405). Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | Summons for Divorce (SCCA-400.01SRL-DIV), Complaint for Divorce (SCCA-400.02SRL-DIV), Family Court Cover Sheet (SCCA-467), Financial Declaration (SCCA-430), and Certificate of Exemption (SCRFCM Form 02), all part of the SRL Simple Divorce Packet. |
| Simplified option | Yes — the South Carolina Judicial Branch offers a free 'Self-Represented Litigant (SRL) Simple Divorce Packet' for uncontested, one-year-separation cases, completable interactively through South Carolina Legal Services at lawhelp.org/sc. |
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South Carolina's no-fault ground for divorce is one continuous year of living separate and apart, with no cohabitation during that period. There's no way to shorten it once you've chosen the no-fault path — courts generally treat the separation date itself as a fact to be proven, so when you actually stopped living as a couple can matter later, even though it feels like a formality now.
If a year of waiting isn't realistic for your situation, South Carolina also allows fault-based grounds — adultery, physical cruelty, habitual drunkenness or drug use, and desertion for a year — which can let a case proceed without waiting out the full separation period. Fault grounds require proving the fault, which is its own process; a local family law attorney can help you weigh whether that tradeoff makes sense for you. Either way, the ground you file under is one of the first strategic decisions in an SC divorce, and it's worth confirming current requirements with the court or a lawyer before you commit to one.
Divorce and related matters in South Carolina are handled in Family Court, a separate court division within the state's judicial system, organized by county across the state's judicial circuits. Local rules, forms, and scheduling practices can vary somewhat by county, so it's worth checking your county's Family Court information or the South Carolina Judicial Branch website for the specifics that apply to your filing.
Because the no-fault year can feel like dead time, many people use it productively: temporary arrangements for support, custody, and use of the home can often be addressed through the court before the underlying divorce is final, so the waiting period doesn't have to mean everything is frozen. If children, support, or a shared home are part of your situation, ask a local lawyer early about what interim relief is available during separation.
South Carolina is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state — marital property is divided by what the court considers fair given the circumstances, which is not automatically a 50/50 split. Property is generally sorted into marital property (acquired during the marriage, subject to division) and separate property (typically owned before the marriage, or received individually as a gift or inheritance), though how an asset was used and titled during the marriage can affect that line. Courts generally look at the full picture, so it helps to have clear records of what you owned going into the marriage and what happened to it.
Alimony in South Carolina is discretionary and considers a number of factors, and one SC-specific wrinkle worth knowing early is that a spouse found to have committed adultery is generally barred from receiving alimony. Whether fault is relevant to your case, and how, is a question for a local family law attorney rather than something to assume either way.
Start pulling together what any SC divorce will eventually ask for: recent tax returns, pay statements, bank and retirement account statements, mortgage and property records, and documentation of any debts. If you're claiming separate property — something owned before the marriage, or an inheritance — gather the paper trail that shows its origin and what happened to it, since tracing matters more than memory.
Keep every letter from opposing counsel, the other party, or the court from the moment they start arriving, along with a note of when the separation actually began. In a state where the separation date itself can become a fact at issue, having a dated, organized record of that timeline — and of every deadline a letter sets — is one of the few things fully within your control.
South Carolina has no legal separation as such. What it has instead is separate maintenance, a court action available to a spouse who is living apart. It can put orders in place while the marriage continues, which is what most people are looking for when they ask about legal separation.
The limit worth understanding before relying on it is property. A separate maintenance order is generally not the mechanism for dividing marital assets — couples who need property divided usually still have to go through a divorce to get there.
The marriage itself continues throughout. Spouses can end the arrangement and reconcile, but neither can remarry without first obtaining a divorce.
South Carolina does not create common-law marriage. There is no number of years of living together that turns into a marriage here, and none of the divorce machinery on this page applies to a couple who never married — no property division, no spousal support, no residency requirement to satisfy, because there is nothing to dissolve.
What unmarried partners have instead are ordinary civil claims: whatever you agreed between yourselves, in writing or by clear conduct, and claims over property you actually hold jointly. These are argued like any other contract or property dispute rather than as family-law entitlements, and they turn on what can be proved.
One qualification runs the other way and matters. A common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them — Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas or Utah — is generally recognised elsewhere. A couple who met that state's test while living there, and later moved here, are married, and separating means divorcing. Children are unaffected either way: custody and child support are decided on the same basis whether or not the parents married.
1) Establish and document your separation date clearly, since it anchors the no-fault timeline. 2) Get at least one consultation with a local Family Court attorney to understand whether a fault ground changes your options. 3) Build a document binder covering income, assets, debts, and separate-property tracing. 4) Ask about interim relief for support, custody, or the home so the waiting year isn't a blank space. 5) Track every letter and deadline from the other side or the court — in a state where a full year can pass before finality, small early details are easy to lose track of.
Confirm you or your spouse meet South Carolina's residency rule (1 year for one spouse, or 3 months if both live in SC). Then decide whether you're filing on the no-fault ground — one continuous year living separate and apart — or a fault ground like adultery or desertion, which lets you file sooner.
If your case is uncontested and you've completed the one-year separation, use the SRL Simple Divorce Packet from sccourts.org, which is designed for self-represented litigants. It includes the Summons (SCCA-400.01SRL-DIV), Complaint for Divorce (SCCA-400.02SRL-DIV), Family Court Cover Sheet (SCCA-467), and Financial Declaration (SCCA-430).
Fill in your grounds for divorce and what you're asking for — name changes, property division, custody, or support. South Carolina Legal Services offers a free interactive online tool at lawhelp.org/sc that walks you through completing the packet.
File your paperwork with the Family Court in the county where your spouse (the defendant) lives, where you live if your spouse lives out of state, or where you last lived together as a married couple.
The standard Family Court filing fee is set by the court — confirm the current amount with your county clerk. If you can't afford it, file a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Form SCCA405) to ask the court to waive the fee.
Your spouse (the defendant) must be formally served with the Summons and Complaint. The SRL packet includes defendant forms — an Answer, Financial Declaration, and Service Affidavit — for them to respond.
Both spouses typically complete and exchange a Financial Declaration (SCCA-430), which lays out income, expenses, assets, and debts and is used to resolve support and property issues.
Uncontested cases are usually resolved through a brief final hearing where a Family Court judge reviews your agreement and testimony. Contested issues (custody, property, support) may require additional hearings or mediation first.
Once granted, the judge signs a final Judgment (SCRCP Form 4F) ending the marriage. A Report of Divorce or Annulment (Form DHEC-0682) is also filed with South Carolina vital records.
For the no-fault ground, yes — South Carolina requires one continuous year of living separate and apart. Fault-based grounds like adultery or desertion can allow a case to proceed without that wait, but they require proving fault, so confirm the tradeoffs with a local lawyer.
No. South Carolina uses equitable distribution, meaning marital property is divided by what a court considers fair based on the circumstances, not an automatic even split. Separate property owned before the marriage is generally treated differently, but titling and use during the marriage can matter.
It can. Courts generally bar alimony to a spouse found to have committed adultery, which is one of the more distinctive rules in South Carolina family law. Whether it applies to your situation is worth confirming with a local attorney.
Not under that name. South Carolina does not offer legal separation, but it does offer separate maintenance — a court action available while the spouses live apart, which can put support and related orders in place without ending the marriage. It generally will not divide marital property, so couples who need assets divided typically still need a divorce. Because the marriage continues, neither spouse can remarry without one.
No. South Carolina does not create common-law marriage, and living together for any length of time gives neither partner property division nor spousal support. Unmarried partners rely instead on agreements between themselves and on claims over jointly held property, argued as ordinary civil matters. One important exception: a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them — such as Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas or Utah — is generally recognised here, so that couple would need a divorce. Custody and child support apply regardless of marriage.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. There is no statewide crisis line here that we could verify, so use the national one: contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 if a call is not safe. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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