A no-fault divorce in South Carolina requires one thing above all else: you and your spouse must live in separate residences, continuously, for one full year before you file. The ground is set out in S.C. Code Ann. § 20-3-10(5), and it lets you end the marriage without accusing anyone of adultery, cruelty, desertion, or habitual drunkenness.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-10 – Grounds for Divorce The price of that privacy is time, and small missteps during the separation year can send you back to day one.
The One-Year Separation Clock
The 365-day count starts on the date you physically separate and must be complete before the Summons and Complaint reach the Clerk of Court. File a day early and the court has no authority to grant the divorce; you would need to start a new case after the full year passes.
Your spouse cannot block the divorce on this ground. The statute specifically shuts down defenses like recrimination, where the responding spouse argues you are also at fault.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-10 – Grounds for Divorce They can fight you on property, custody, or alimony. They cannot stop the divorce itself once the year is up.
What “Separate and Apart” Means
The statute uses the phrase “without cohabitation,” and South Carolina courts read that to mean living under separate roofs. Spouses who move to different bedrooms in the same house almost never satisfy the requirement. Courts have occasionally accepted in-home separation where the couple maintained completely independent lives, but judges rarely approve it without extreme and well-documented facts: no shared meals, no shared chores, no shared social events, no intimacy.
One of you needs to move out. And the separation has to be continuous. If you move back under the same roof for any period, however brief, the clock restarts the day you separate again.
A point that confuses people: the statute focuses on separate residences, not on whether you had any personal contact during the year. Occasional encounters are not what the law calls cohabitation. That said, anything that looks like reconciliation creates risk at the final hearing, where you or a witness must swear the separation was genuine and unbroken.
No-Fault or a Fault Ground?
South Carolina also recognizes four fault-based grounds under § 20-3-10(1)–(4): adultery, desertion for one year, physical cruelty, and habitual drunkenness, which includes drug use.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-10 – Grounds for Divorce If you can prove one, you can file immediately rather than waiting out the year. The tradeoff is a more adversarial case with evidence of misconduct in open court.
Picking no-fault does not wipe out misconduct as an issue. Marital fault is a factor the court weighs when dividing property and setting alimony,2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-620 – Apportionment Factors and a spouse who committed adultery is categorically barred from receiving alimony.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-130 – Award of Alimony and Other Allowances Either side can raise misconduct in a no-fault case; the ground just determines what you have to prove to end the marriage.
Residency and Where to File
If both of you live in South Carolina, the person filing needs to have lived in the state for at least three months before starting the case. If only one spouse lives here, the in-state spouse must have resided in South Carolina for a full year before filing. When the filer is a nonresident, the other spouse must meet that one-year threshold.4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-30 – Residence Requirement
You file in the county where either spouse lives. If you live in different South Carolina counties, you can choose either one. If your spouse is out of state, file in the South Carolina county where you reside. The wrong county or short residency can get the case dismissed.
The Paperwork You File
The core documents are the Summons and the Complaint for Divorce. The Complaint states the ground (one-year continuous separation), identifies both spouses, gives the marriage date, and specifies the date you began living apart. The South Carolina Judicial Branch publishes standardized self-represented litigant packets for simple divorces.5South Carolina Judicial Branch. SRL Simple Divorce Packets
Rule 20 of the South Carolina Rules of Family Court requires every party to file a Financial Declaration when either spouse’s financial condition is relevant, which covers nearly every divorce.6South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 20 – Financial Declaration It calls for monthly income, payroll deductions, debts, and assets. Spouses with total assets under $300,000 use a shorter version; above that threshold, you itemize assets in additional sections.7South Carolina Judicial Department. Financial Declaration The form is signed under oath, and willful noncompliance can bring sanctions. Pull pay stubs, tax returns, and bank statements before you start.
The court filing fee is $150.8South Carolina Judicial Branch. Family Court – Court Fees
Serving Your Spouse
Filed papers have to be formally delivered to the other spouse. South Carolina allows three methods:
- Certified mail with return receipt requested and restricted delivery.
- Acceptance of service, where the other spouse voluntarily signs an acknowledgment.
- Personal delivery by a law enforcement officer or private process server.
Once served, your spouse has 30 days to file an Answer.9South Carolina Judicial Department. Instructions for Completing the Self-Represented Litigant Simple Divorce Packet You also need to file an Affidavit of Service proving delivery happened. No response within 30 days, and the case can move forward as uncontested.
Getting Support in Place During the Waiting Year
Twelve months is a long time to live in limbo, especially with children in the picture. South Carolina does not recognize “legal separation” as a formal status, but Family Court can issue an Order of Separate Maintenance and Support that handles custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, who stays in the marital home, who pays the mortgage and other debts, and health insurance while the divorce is pending.
You request this relief by filing a written motion. Under Rule 21, the hearing is set between 21 and 45 days after you file, and your spouse gets at least 20 days’ notice. Evidence at these hearings is usually limited to affidavits and financial declarations, with page limits that vary by hearing length.10South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 21 – Temporary Relief In emergencies involving a child’s safety or risk of irreparable harm, the court can grant relief ex parte, without advance notice to the other side.
Finishing the Case: Witness and Final Hearing
South Carolina requires corroboration of the ground for divorce to prevent collusion. You need at least one witness besides yourself who can confirm the key facts: that you and your spouse lived in separate residences for the full year and that reconciliation is not possible. The witness does not have to be close family, but they need personal knowledge, meaning they can speak to when you moved apart and that you did not resume living together during the year.
In contested cases, the witness testifies in person at a hearing. In uncontested cases where you and your spouse agree on all terms, Rule 28 lets the court grant the divorce without a hearing at all. Both parties and both corroborating witnesses submit written affidavits addressing jurisdiction, venue, the marriage date, the separation date, and why reconciliation is impossible, together with copies of state-issued photo ID for everyone who signed.11South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 28 This paperwork-only route can shorten the time between filing and the final decree considerably.
Once the judge is satisfied, the final decree is signed and the marriage is over.
What the Decree Will Also Decide
Even on no-fault grounds, the divorce resolves everything connected to the marriage. Property is split under equitable apportionment, which means fairly, not necessarily equally. Only marital property, meaning what either spouse acquired during the marriage regardless of whose name is on the title, is divided; property owned before the marriage, inheritances and third-party gifts, property acquired after a temporary order or separation agreement, and anything excluded by a prenuptial agreement stay with the original owner.12South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 20 Chapter 3 – Section 20-3-630 The court weighs 15 statutory factors in dividing the estate.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-620 – Apportionment Factors Property division is final and cannot be changed later except through appeal, which catches people off guard: unlike custody or support, you do not get a second look if your situation changes.
Alimony comes in four forms (periodic, rehabilitative, lump-sum, and reimbursement), with different modification and termination rules for each.3South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 20-3-130 – Award of Alimony and Other Allowances The court looks at length of marriage, each spouse’s age, health, and earning capacity, the standard of living, and marital misconduct. Adultery still bars the offending spouse from any alimony, even in a no-fault case.
If you have minor children, the court decides custody using the best-interests standard, weighing 17 statutory factors plus anything else it finds relevant.13South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 63-15-240 – Contents of Order Regarding Custody Child support follows the Income Shares Model, dividing the estimated cost of raising the child in proportion to each parent’s income. Health insurance premiums for the children, work-related childcare, and unreimbursed medical costs are added on top.
Contested issues like these are generally subject to mandatory mediation before a judge will hear them, though temporary relief requests, contempt proceedings, and cases involving the Department of Social Services are exempt. Some counties add their own mediation rules, so check the practice in the county where you file.