How to File for Separate Support and Maintenance in SC

To file for separate support and maintenance in SC, you file a Summons and Complaint in the Family Court of the county where you or your spouse lives, allege a fault-based ground, pay a $150 filing fee, and have your spouse formally served. The case then moves through a temporary hearing, financial disclosure, court-ordered mediation, and either a settlement or a trial before a Family Court judge issues a final order.

Confirm You Meet the Threshold Requirements

Three things have to be in place before a South Carolina Family Court will hear a separate support and maintenance action.

Residency. The filing spouse must have lived in South Carolina for at least one year before filing. If both spouses live in the state, three months is enough. These are the divorce residency thresholds, and courts generally apply them to separate support actions as well.¹

Physical separation. You and your spouse must actually be living apart, in separate residences. Different bedrooms in the same house almost never qualifies. In-home separation is theoretically possible but rarely accepted, and proving it requires extensive documentation of completely independent lives under one roof.

A fault ground. South Carolina does not allow a no-fault separate support and maintenance action. Your complaint must allege one of the fault grounds recognized under S.C. Code Section 20-3-10:¹

Adultery by your spouse
Desertion for at least one year
Physical cruelty creating a genuine risk of bodily harm
Habitual drunkenness, which includes persistent drug abuse

The fifth divorce ground, one year of continuous separation, is no-fault and cannot be used for separate maintenance. Living apart alone is not enough. You need to point to something your spouse did.

One caution about your own conduct: a spouse who committed adultery before signing a settlement agreement or before entry of a permanent support order cannot receive alimony.² If your spouse can prove infidelity on your part, your support claim can be barred entirely.

Gather Your Financial Documents First

Family Court Rule 20 requires every party in a case involving financial issues to file a Financial Declaration, served and filed before the first hearing or within 45 days after the complaint is served, whichever comes first.³ Pull the records you need before you draft anything:

Recent pay stubs (two to three months) and your last three years of federal tax returns, plus records of any rental, investment, or other income
Bank, retirement, and investment account statements covering the past six months to a year
Mortgage statements, car loans, credit card balances, and any other debts
Deeds, vehicle titles, and property tax assessments
Monthly bills for housing, utilities, insurance, childcare, and other recurring expenses

If children are involved, you will also need their dates of birth, current living arrangements, school information, and any special needs. Depending on the situation, a proposed parenting plan may be required.

Prepare and File the Summons and Complaint

The two core documents are a Summons and a Complaint for Separate Support and Maintenance. The complaint states the fault ground, the facts that support it, and the relief you want the court to order: spousal support, child support, custody and visitation, use of the marital home, division of debts, and any other matter within the Family Court’s jurisdiction.⁴ Blank forms are available from the South Carolina Judicial Department website and from the Clerk of Court’s office.

File the completed documents with the Clerk of Court at the Family Court in the county where you or your spouse lives. The filing fee is $150.⁵

If you cannot afford the fee, ask the court to waive it by filing Form SCCA 405, the Motion and Affidavit to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. You swear under oath that you lack the funds to pay.⁶

Have Your Spouse Served

You cannot hand the papers to your spouse yourself. Service must be done by a sheriff, deputy, or private process server. Private process servers typically charge $30 to $100 or more depending on how hard the person is to locate. Once service is complete, file the proof of service (an affidavit from whoever made delivery) with the court.

Your spouse has 30 days after being served to file an answer. If no answer comes in that window, you can move the case forward, but the court will still require you to present evidence supporting your claims before it enters any orders.

Work the Case Toward a Final Order

Temporary Hearing

Early in the case, the court can hold a temporary hearing to address urgent needs while the action is pending. Temporary orders commonly cover interim spousal support, temporary custody and visitation, who stays in the marital home, and who pays which bills. These orders stay in effect until a final order replaces them or the parties settle.

Financial Disclosure and Discovery

Beyond the Rule 20 Financial Declaration, either side can request additional documents, send written interrogatories, or take depositions. The point is to give both parties and the court a complete financial picture before permanent decisions get made. Willful failure to comply with financial disclosure can trigger sanctions.³

Mediation

All contested domestic relations cases in Family Court are subject to court-ordered mediation.⁷ The parties must complete at least three hours of mediation unless they reach an agreement sooner.⁸ Many separate support cases resolve here. If you reach agreement, the mediator drafts a written memorandum that the parties then submit to Family Court for approval.

Final Hearing

If mediation does not produce a full settlement, the case goes to trial. Both sides present evidence and testimony, and the judge decides everything still in dispute. The case concludes with a court order setting the terms of separate support and maintenance.

What the Court Can Order

The Family Court has exclusive jurisdiction over these cases and can address spousal support, child support, custody and visitation, use of marital property, and allocation of debts.⁴ Support can be awarded on both a temporary basis while the case is pending and on a permanent basis in the final order.²

When deciding the amount and duration of support, the judge weighs 13 factors listed in S.C. Code Section 20-3-130(C), including the length of the marriage, each spouse’s age and health, education and earning capacity, employment history, the marital standard of living, income and expenses, marital and separate property, custodial responsibilities, marital misconduct that affected finances, tax consequences, and prior support obligations.² No single factor controls, and the court can consider any other factor it finds relevant.

A separate maintenance award terminates automatically if the supported spouse begins cohabitating with a new partner, if the parties divorce, or if either spouse dies.² A change in circumstances can be grounds to modify it.

One boundary to keep in mind: this action does not end the marriage. You remain legally married, cannot remarry, and property rights tied to marital status stay intact.

If You Later Want a Divorce

A separate support order is not permanent unless you want it to be. Once you and your spouse have lived apart for one continuous year, either party can seek a no-fault divorce under S.C. Code Section 20-3-10(5).¹ In practice, that usually means amending the existing separate maintenance complaint to add a divorce claim rather than opening a new case. The existing order’s custody and support terms serve as a starting point, and the court can adjust them in the final divorce decree. If you never convert, the separate maintenance order stays in force and can be enforced or modified as circumstances change. Living under one indefinitely is perfectly legal in South Carolina.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 20 Chapter 3 – Divorce
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 20 Chapter 3 Section 20-3-130 – Award of Alimony and Other Allowances
3
South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Court Rules – Family Court Rule 20
4
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 63 Chapter 3 Section 63-3-530 – Jurisdiction in Domestic Matters
5
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Family Court Filing Fees
6
South Carolina Judicial Branch. In Forma Pauperis Procedures
7
South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Court Rules – ADR Rule 3 – Actions Subject to ADR
8
South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Court Rules – ADR Rule 6 – Duties of the Parties, Representatives and Attorneys – Section: Agreement in Family Court