Child Custody Lawyers  in South Carolina: How to Protect Your Interest

The best parents agree that nothing is more important than child custody and making sure your children well cared for during a divorce.  In fact, parents often stay together longer than they would otherwise want to do when they have young children in the home. Custody decisions made in court at the beginning of a divorce can often have long-reaching effects.  Making sure you are armed with all of the facts and that you are well prepared to present your case to a Judge is critical in a child custody action.  Do not risk going into a South Carolina family court without a child custody lawyer to advocate on your behalf. Our South Carolina Divorce Attorneys located in Columbia will ensure that your future is protected. Give us a call today at 803-252-4800 to schedule a consultation. We also handle cases statewide including Lexington, Greenville, Orangeburg and Sumter

What are the different types of Child Custody Cases in South Carolina?

There are two different types of child custody for the SC Family  Court to decide – physical child custody and legal child custody. Physical child custody is the actual possession and care of the child. Legal custody refers to the right and responsibility to make decisions regarding the child’s upbringing. In making child custody decisions, the family court can decide to grant sole child custody or joint child custody.  If one parent is granted sole custody, the South Carolina Family court is still likely to grant visitation to the noncustodial parent, unless it would be harmful or dangerous to the child. Courts can also order that child visitation be supervised if it is in the best interest of the child.

Sole Child Custody vs. Joint Child Custody

Sole child custody is where one parent has the sole ability to make major decisions concerning the child. These types of decisions include the child’s education, medical and dental care, extracurricular activities, and religious affiliation. Sometimes the parent may be required to consult or discuss certain issues with the other parent prior to deciding those issues for the child.

Joint child custody refers to a situation where both parents have equal rights and responsibilities for major decisions. However, S.C. Code Ann. § 63-15-210(2) states that a judge may “designate one parent to have sole authority to make specific, identified decisions while both parents retain equal rights and responsibilities for all other decisions.” In both sole child custody and joint child custody arrangements, both parents have equal access to obtain all educational and medical records of their minor children, unless it would be prohibited by an SC Family Court Order or State law.

Physical Child Custody and Child Visitation

South Carolina family law allows parents to determine child custody and visitation by agreement and without  Family court intervention if the parents so decide.  If the parents are unable to reach an agreement, the Family court will consider many factors based on the best interest of the child.  Some of those factors are:

• Which parent will be most likely to allow the other parent to develop and maintain a relationship with the child; Circumstances of the spouses;
• The religious faith of the parents and child; and
• The welfare of the child.

Child’s Preference on Child Custody

Contrary to popular opinion, there is no magic age at which a child can choose to live with one or the other parent. The South Carolina  Family Court is required to consider the child’s preference at all ages, along with the reasons for the specific preference. Many judges weigh the preferences of 11, 12, and 13 year-olds, provided their choice is clear and the preference is given for a legitimate reason.

Visitation With Children

When one parent is awarded child custody, the other parent will generally be awarded a set visitation schedule (absent some concern for the safety of the child is left with the visiting parent).  The amount of visitation that the non-custodial parent is awarded depends on a totality of the parties’ circumstances.  This often involves a look at the geographic distance, the nature of the relationship between the parents and the child, the parent’s work schedule or availability, and the interaction between the two parents. Custodial parents are never allowed to restrict a non-custodial parent’s visitation rights on the basis that the non-custodial parent has not paid or kept current his/her child support guidelines obligation.

Supervised Child Visitation or Restricted Child Visitation

Only in rare cases where the visiting parent poses a threat or endangers the child’s health, safety, or welfare, will there be supervised visitation or restricted visitation.  The threat must be legitimate, not presumed, or imaginary, and the burden is on the parent requesting the supervision or restrictions to prove the necessity.

The SC Family court will evaluate both the father’s rights in a divorce and the mother’s rights in a divorce equally, weighing each parent’s ability to provide a stable and safe home environment for the child. Different SC  Judges have written standard schedules which set forth visitation times for the non-custodial parent along with child visitation guidelines. A good example is the “Standard Visitation, Guidelines, and Restraining Orders” written by retired Judge Timothy L. Brown.

If you are in need of a Family Court Lawyer – Click Here to be referred to Strom Family Law, a separate law firm that will be happy to talk to you about your family court matter.