Stone v. Thompson is in the books

Posted Thursday, November 7th, 2019 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Divorce and Marriage, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Specific

Updating some of my blogs this morning to include citations to Southeastern Reporter and South Carolina Reports, I realized that the petition for rehearing in Stone v. Thompson, 428 S.C. 79, 833 S.E.2d 266 (2019), was denied on October 16, 2019.

Until a petition for rehearing is denied or remittitur issues, a published opinion is always subject to revision. Thus Stone’s prospective abolition of common law marriage in South Carolina and higher (clear and convincing) burden of proof for common law marriages contracted prior to July 25, 2019 wasn’t, at the time the opinion issued, “set in stone” (pun intended).

Now it is.