Rule 20.Financial declaration

Rule 20 is the disclosure engine of a South Carolina domestic case, and it is short because the form does the work.

When it is required

In any domestic relations action in which the financial condition of a party is relevant or is an issue to be considered by the court, a current financial declaration in the form prescribed by the Supreme Court shall be served and filed by all parties.

Three things to notice. The trigger is relevance, not a request — nobody has to ask for it. The form is prescribed, so a party's own schedule of income and expenses does not satisfy the rule. And the obligation runs to all parties, not only the one seeking money.

The deadline

Filed and served prior to or at the first hearing, or no later than 45 days after the complaint is served, whichever occurs first.

"Whichever occurs first" is the operative phrase, and it usually means the hearing. Rule 21(c) schedules a temporary hearing between 21 and 45 days from the request, so in most contested cases the first hearing arrives well before day 45 — and the declaration is due then, not on the outer date.

The default exception

If the defendant fails to timely answer or otherwise plead, the plaintiff is not required to serve a financial declaration on the defendant before the final hearing. Note the shape of it: the relief is from serving the defaulting defendant, and it lasts only until the final hearing. Read with Rule 17 — under which that defendant still receives notice of the merits hearing and may still be heard on alimony, support, equitable distribution and fees — the declaration will be needed at the hearing itself.

Sanctions

Reasonable sanctions may be imposed upon an attorney or a party for willful noncompliance with this rule. Two features: the exposure runs to the attorney as well as the party, and it requires willful noncompliance rather than mere lateness.

The court's Editor's Note, reproduced above, points to the Appendix of Forms for the declaration itself.