Is South Carolina a No-Fault State for Divorce?

South Carolina is both a no-fault and a fault-based divorce state, but its no-fault option is narrow: the only no-fault ground is living separate and apart, without cohabitation, for one continuous year.¹ If you don’t want to wait a year, you can file right away, but only by proving one of four kinds of misconduct by your spouse.

What No-Fault Means in South Carolina

There is one no-fault ground, and it has a hard requirement: a full year apart. “Without cohabitation” means no shared household and no resumed marital relations during that year. A brief reconciliation that puts you back under the same roof resets the clock.

At the final hearing, you need a corroborating witness, someone other than yourself with personal knowledge of your living situation, to confirm you actually lived apart for the required time. Your own testimony isn’t enough.

The no-fault ground has one real procedural strength. It cannot be blocked by your spouse pointing to your own misconduct; the statute specifically bars those defenses on this ground.¹ Even where both spouses behaved badly, either can still get a no-fault divorce after the year is up.

The Four Fault Grounds

To avoid the one-year wait, you have to prove one of four fault-based grounds in family court, usually with testimony, records, or other evidence.¹

Adultery. A sexual relationship with someone else during the marriage. Direct proof isn’t always required; courts accept circumstantial evidence of both opportunity and inclination.
Physical cruelty. Acts of violence that endangered your life, physical safety, or health.
Habitual drunkenness. A sustained pattern of alcohol abuse damaging the marriage. The statute also covers addiction to narcotic drugs under this ground.
Desertion. Abandonment by your spouse for at least one year. Unlike no-fault separation, desertion means one spouse left against the other’s wishes rather than by agreement.

Desertion still requires a year, so in practice the three grounds that let you file quickly are adultery, physical cruelty, and habitual drunkenness.

Why the Choice Between Fault and No-Fault Matters

Speed isn’t the main reason people choose fault. Money is.

Adultery carries the single most significant consequence in South Carolina divorce law: an absolute bar on alimony for the adulterous spouse. If the court finds you committed adultery before either a written settlement agreement was signed or a permanent court order was entered, you cannot receive alimony at all.² Not reduced. Zero.

Where adultery isn’t in play, alimony turns on factors like the length of the marriage, each spouse’s earnings and earning potential, the standard of living during the marriage, physical and emotional health, and custody arrangements.²

Fault also feeds into property division, though less dramatically. South Carolina is an equitable distribution state: marital property is divided fairly, not necessarily equally, and property you brought into the marriage or received individually by gift or inheritance is generally nonmarital and stays with you. Marital misconduct is one factor the court weighs, but only when it affected the couple’s finances or contributed to the breakup.³ A spouse who spent marital funds on an affair, for example, can end up with a smaller share. Other factors include the length of the marriage, each spouse’s income and earning potential, the value of marital assets, contributions as a homemaker, tax consequences, and each spouse’s health.

So the practical picture: if neither spouse committed adultery and you can wait, the no-fault path avoids the cost and evidentiary burden of proving misconduct. If your spouse committed adultery and you’d receive alimony, filing on that ground can be worth pursuing. If you committed adultery, waiting for a written agreement or permanent order before the finding is entered becomes financially critical.

Residency Before You Can File

You have to meet South Carolina’s residency requirement before either path is available to you.

If both spouses live in South Carolina, the filing spouse must have lived in the state for at least three months before filing.⁴
If only one spouse lives in South Carolina, that resident spouse must have lived in the state for at least one year before filing, whether they’re the one initiating or the one responding.⁴

File before you meet the requirement and the court has no jurisdiction; the case can be dismissed.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-10 – Grounds for Divorce
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws – Title 20 – Chapter 3 – Divorce
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-620 – Apportionment Factors
4
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-30 – Residence Requirement