March 6, 2013
The March 6, 2013 Court of Appeals opinion in Barber v. Barber, 402 S.C. 96, 738 S.E.2d 845 (Ct. App. 2013), clarifies a narrow but frequently
Supreme Court alters equitable distribution award and reverses reservation of alimony
February 21, 2013
N.B., on May 8, 2013, the South Carolina Supreme Court slightly modified its original opinion. For more information read Supreme Court reconsiders equitable distribution of marital
What becomes of a transmuted waterfront lot?
February 20, 2013
In my almost four years of blogging about every reported South Carolina appellate decision from family court and over fifteen years of handling family law
Does equitable distribution case law overvalue retirement accounts?
January 10, 2013
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and 401k account assets are not as valuable as an equivalent amount of cash. With some exceptions there is a 10%
Equitable distribution when spouses rarely lived together
December 5, 2012
The December 5, 2012 Court of Appeals opinion in Jenkins v. Jenkins, 401 S.C. 191, 736 S.E.2d 392 (Ct. App. 2012) addresses, without providing guidance, the interesting
August 28, 2012
South Carolina Code § 20-3-610 indicates that the marital estate is created “at the time marital litigation is filed or commenced...” Yet S.C. Code §
Fighting the wrong battle on transmutation
August 25, 2012
I attended a mediation training yesterday in which one of the exercises dealt with the issue of “transmutation,” the process by which non-marital property becomes
