How to File for Joint Custody in South Carolina: Forms, Costs, Mediation

To file for joint custody in South Carolina, you submit a Summons, a Complaint for Custody, a Financial Declaration, and a Proposed Parenting Plan to the Family Court Clerk in the county where your child lives, pay a $150 filing fee, and arrange for the other parent to be served. The case then moves through mandatory mediation before a judge decides anything contested. What you file, and how well you prepare it, shapes everything that follows.

Know Which Kind of Joint Custody You Are Asking For

South Carolina treats joint legal custody and joint physical custody as separate arrangements, and you can be awarded one without the other. Joint legal custody means both parents share equal authority over major decisions about education, medical care, extracurriculars, and religion. Neither parent can unilaterally enroll the child in a new school or authorize a non-emergency surgery.

Joint physical custody means the child spends substantial time living with each parent. It does not require a 50/50 split. The schedule might alternate weeks, run 60/40, or take another shape that fits the family. When the court awards joint custody, the order has to spell out the residential arrangements for each child and describe how the parents will communicate about major decisions.¹

Be specific in your paperwork about which form of joint custody you want, and be prepared to say why. If either parent requests joint custody or custody is contested at all, the court is required to consider every custody option before ruling, and the judge must explain the reasoning in the final order.²

The Forms You Need to File

Four documents make up the core filing.

The Summons and Complaint for Custody identify both parents and the children, state where each party lives, and describe the custody arrangement you are requesting.

The Financial Declaration requires full disclosure of your income, expenses, assets, and debts.

The Proposed Parenting Plan, Form SCCA 466, is where you lay out how joint custody would actually work day to day: the residential schedule, holiday and vacation arrangements, transportation for exchanges, and how parents will communicate about major decisions.³

The parenting plan is the single most important document you control. A vague plan invites conflict later; a detailed one reduces future disputes and shows the judge you have thought through what co-parenting actually looks like. Beyond the residential schedule, address:

Holiday and school break rotation, including how the schedule alternates year to year
Where drop-offs and pick-ups happen, who transports, and what happens if a parent is late
How the child will contact the other parent between homes, and at what times
How parents will handle disagreements about medical care, school, or activities before going back to court
Whether the plan includes a right of first refusal, requiring the scheduled parent to offer the other parent care time before hiring a sitter or relying on relatives when absences exceed a defined period

Right of first refusal clauses work best when parents live close and communicate reliably. In a high-conflict co-parenting relationship, that clause can create more disputes than it prevents.

Forms are available through the South Carolina Judicial Branch website or from the Family Court Clerk’s office in your county.

Where to File and What It Costs

File the completed documents with the Family Court Clerk in the county where the child lives or where the other parent resides. The filing fee for a custody or visitation action is $150, paid at the time of filing.⁴

If you cannot afford the fee, request a waiver using Form SCCA 405, the Motion for Waiver of Costs and Fees. The form requires you to list your monthly income, assets, and expenses, and it must be signed before a notary public. The court reviews your finances and decides whether to grant the waiver.⁵

Serving the Other Parent

After filing, the other parent must receive legal notice of the case. South Carolina’s Rules of Civil Procedure allow several methods. A sheriff or deputy can deliver the papers. Any person at least 18 years old and not a party to the case can serve as a private process server. You can also use certified mail with return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee; if the other parent accepts delivery, service is effective on the date shown on the return receipt.⁶

One caution on certified mail: if the other parent does not respond and you plan to seek a default judgment later, you will need proof that they personally signed the return receipt. Sheriff service or a private process server is more reliable when default is a possibility.

Once service is completed, file proof of service with the court so the case can move forward.

Mandatory Mediation

All contested custody cases in South Carolina Family Court are subject to court-ordered mediation. This is not optional. A neutral mediator works with both parents to try to reach agreement on custody and visitation before the case goes to a judge.⁷

Both parents must participate in at least three hours of mediation unless they reach an agreement sooner. If mediation produces a settlement, the mediator drafts a Memorandum of Agreement that goes to both parties, their attorneys, and any guardian ad litem. That agreement still needs court approval to become a binding order.⁸

Some matters are exempt, including requests for temporary relief, contempt proceedings, and cases initiated by the Department of Social Services. A party can also move to be exempted for case-specific reasons such as incarceration or a physical condition that prevents participation.⁷

Temporary Orders While the Case Is Pending

Custody cases can take months. Either parent can request a temporary hearing to establish interim custody, a visitation schedule, and child support while the case is pending. The temporary order stays in effect until the judge issues a final ruling.

If you are currently caring for the child, a temporary order formalizes that arrangement and prevents disruption. If you are not, a temporary order is your fastest route to guaranteed parenting time. Requests for temporary relief are exempt from the mediation requirement, so you do not have to wait for mediation to get an interim schedule in place.

How the Judge Will Decide

South Carolina judges evaluate custody under the best-interests-of-the-child standard. The statute lists 17 factors the court may weigh, and knowing them helps you build a stronger case. The ones that most often decide contested cases:

Each parent’s capacity to understand and meet the child’s developmental needs
The child’s preferences, which carry more weight as the child gets older
Each parent’s willingness to encourage the child’s relationship with the other parent, including compliance with prior court orders
Manipulation or disparagement, such as badmouthing the other parent in front of the child or dragging the child into adult disputes
Stability of the child’s current and proposed living situations, school, and community
History of domestic violence or abuse involving either parent, the child, or the child’s siblings
Whether a parent moved more than 100 miles from the child’s primary residence in the past year without a safety-related reason

¹The court also considers the mental and physical health of everyone involved, though a parent’s disability alone cannot be the deciding factor unless the proposed arrangement would actually harm the child. Judges have discretion to weigh additional factors they consider relevant. If your case has a clear strength under any of these factors, your parenting plan and testimony should highlight it.

In contested cases, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the child’s interests. Appointment is not automatic. A judge appoints a GAL only when the court would otherwise lack complete information and there is a substantial dispute that warrants it, or when both parents consent.⁹ The GAL investigates the family, interviews the children, and reports findings and recommendations to the judge. A GAL’s recommendation carries significant weight. GAL fees are typically split between the parents or allocated by ability to pay.

Confirm Jurisdiction Before You File

If you and the other parent live in different states, or if either of you recently relocated, confirm that South Carolina is the right place to file before you spend the fee. South Carolina follows the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The “home state,” which has priority jurisdiction, is the state where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the case was filed. For a child under six months old, the home state is wherever the child has lived since birth.¹⁰

If your child has been out of South Carolina for more than six months when you file, South Carolina generally no longer has jurisdiction unless you still live here. The court can take temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in South Carolina and faces abuse, neglect, or abandonment, even if another state would ordinarily have authority.¹¹

What the Case Actually Costs

The $150 filing fee is the entry point, not the total. If you hire an attorney, family law hourly rates vary widely with experience and case complexity. Private process servers charge a separate fee. If the court orders mediation with a private mediator, both parents usually share that cost. A guardian ad litem adds another layer of expense.

Contested cases cost substantially more than cases resolved through mediation. Every additional hearing, motion, and court appearance adds legal fees. Reaching a negotiated agreement on as many issues as possible before trial is the most reliable way to control what the case ultimately costs, and it also gives you more control over the outcome than handing the decision to a judge.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-15-240 – Contents of Order for Custody Affecting Rights and Responsibilities of Parents; Best Interests of the Child
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 15 – Section 63-15-230
3
South Carolina Judicial Branch. SCCA 466 – Proposed Parenting Plan
4
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Family Court Filing Fees
5
South Carolina Judicial Branch. SCCA 405 – Motion for Waiver of Costs and Fees
6
South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 4 – Process
7
South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Court Rules – Rule 3 – Actions Subject to ADR
8
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 6 – Duties of the Parties, Representatives and Attorneys – Mediation
9
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-3-810 – Appointment
10
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-15-330 – Basis for Jurisdiction
11
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-15-336 – Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction