Divorce & Family Law in Greer, SC

Greer is full of hard-working professional class families. Many of these families are younger, and just starting out in life. Unfortunately, sometimes unexpected things can arise, and families are faced with difficult situations.

Whatever your reason for being here, you’re not alone. While family law disputes can feel isolating and confusing, they are also incredibly common. With a strong legal team at your side and a knowledge of your rights, you can feel confident about how your case will be handled.

Looking for the right Greer, SC family attorney for your needs? Call Nowell Law Firm at 864-707-1785 to set up a consultation.

Considering Divorce? Know Your Options

For many people, divorce is the single largest legal issue they’ll face in their lives. After bringing two lives together in marriage, trying to split those two lives back up is a time-consuming and challenging task. Depending on how much you’ve accumulated during the marriage and whether or not children are involved, your divorce could easily take months or years to negotiate.

One of the first decisions you’ll have to make is whether you want to pursue a fault or no-fault divorce. Both have benefits. Fault divorce may be an option for you if your partner was unfaithful, was an alcoholic or drug abuser, was abusive to you, or abandoned you for at least one year in the marriage.

Proving that your partner forced you to end the marriage by treating you this way may allow you to seek a greater share of the marital assets, but this route also takes longer. No fault divorce essentially states that you and your partner are no longer compatible and that the marriage cannot be salvaged. No one gets blamed, so the process goes much more quickly in most cases.

Plan Ahead for the Division of Assets

A big part of any South Carolina divorce is the division of marital assets. Both parties are entitled to a fair share of the assets they’ve gained during the marriage. The court will take a number of factors into account in this situation, including each party’s separate assets, each party’s earning ability, the health of each spouse, the role one or both spouses played at the end of the marriage, and who will have custody of any children resulting from the marriage.

There is quite a bit of wiggle room in the division of assets, so it’s important, to be frank with your attorney about your priorities. Perhaps you don’t care about your family home on Stream Crossing Way, but you are determined to keep your summer home in Myrtle Beach where your family has spent every summer for the last decade.

Maybe you are uninterested in the family home, but you are not willing to give up your retirement accounts to your ex-partner. If you are willing to compromise and negotiate, you could end up with the assets that matter most to you.

Explore Types of Custody in South Carolina

South Carolina recognizes both physical and legal custody. In most cases, the court prefers to allow both parents to share legal custody and split physical custody as much as possible. This arrangement allows both parents to have substantial time with their child, which of course benefits the child as well. The top priority in this discussion is always the best interests of the child, which is something to keep in mind as you look for an agreement that the court will approve.

If both parents want physical custody of the children, the court will look at many different factors to determine what is actually best for the little one. Stability is a big part of it—perhaps your child has spent three years at Skyland Elementary School, but your spouse has moved to a house zoned for Chandler Creek Elementary School. All other things being equal, the cost would prefer to keep the child in a stable situation at the school they already know.

Understand Child Support Laws in South Carolina

The amount of child support you pay or receive depends largely on the specific details of your custody arrangement. If one parent has sole custody, the other parent’s income is used to calculate how much child support the noncustodial parent pays. Child support is based on a basic calculation with some deductions allowed. If the parents share physical custody, both of their incomes are used to determine how much support the child is entitled to. The amount of support paid is based on how much time the child spends with each parent.

Look Into What South Carolina Law Says About Alimony

While alimony is never a guarantee in South Carolina divorce, a spouse can request it during a divorce. Alimony may be awarded if one spouse needs time to become financially dependent, get paid back for investments made in the other partner’s career or education, or receive support while completing their education to get back into the workforce.

Depending on the agreement you come to, alimony may be paid in a lump sum or set in monthly installments. Alimony typically ends when the party receiving it either remarries or lives with a new romantic partner.

Get the Support You Need with Nowell Law Firm

No matter what type of family law issue you’re currently facing, trust the Nowell Law Firm to guide you through this difficult and painful time. We fight aggressively on behalf of family law clients to ensure they have the support they need to start a new chapter in life.

The decisions you make about your divorce, child support, and child custody can truly affect your quality of life for years to come. Don’t try to negotiate these matters on your own, especially while grieving the end of a marriage. Let us be the objective voice you need.

If you’re ready to move forward with your family law questions, let’s set up a time to talk. Call Nowell Law Firm at 864-707-1785 or fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch shortly.