South Carolina Rules of Family Court
32 rules across 5 sections · Cited as Rule 20, SCRFC
A divorce, a paternity case or a petition to modify parenting time in South Carolina does not run on the Rules of Civil Procedure. The superior court sits in family cases under its own set, and this one is not a re-lettered copy of the civil rules the way some states' are — it has its own fourteen parts, its own numbering, and whole procedures the civil rules never needed: a resolution management conference, a summary consent decree, a parenting coordinator, a family law master, and a post-decree part that runs from Rule 91 to Rule 91.7. Reach for the wrong set and the deadline you calculate may not be the one that governs.
Section I. General Provisions
Cited as Rule 20, SCRFC · 3 rules
Section II. Provisions Applicable to All Actions in Family Courts
Cited as Rule 20, SCRFC · 8 rules
Section III. Provisions Applicable to Domestic Relations Actions
Cited as Rule 20, SCRFC · 13 rules
- 16 Continuing jurisdiction
- 17 Failure to file answer
- 18 Failure of defendant to counterclaim for divorce
- 19 Lis pendens
- 20 Financial declaration
- 21 Temporary relief
- 22 Interview with child
- 23 Presence or testimony of child
- 24 Automatic enforcement of child support and periodic alimony
- 25 Discovery
- 26 Orders
- 27 Enforcement of visitation
- 28 Granting certain relief without a hearing
Section IV. Provisions Applicable to Juvenile Actions
Cited as Rule 20, SCRFC · 7 rules
Section V. Other Provisions
Cited as Rule 20, SCRFC · 1 rule
Rule numbers 4, 5, 15, 29, 30 and 38 through 40 are not used. The court lists no rule at any of them and each returns a "page not found" on the official site, so they carry no row here. Rule 10 was deleted by order dated June 20, 2024 and is shown as a stub.