Anne Frances Bleecker Family Law Blog on Lawyers.com

If you are preparing to file for a divorce in South Carolina, either you or your spouse must have been a resident in the state for at least one year—unless you are both residents, in which case the length of residency requirement is reduced to three months.  After filing for divorce, you must wait ninety days before a divorce decree can be ordered.  When one spouse files a complaint for divorce, the legal divorce process officially begins. 

However, in order to file a complaint for a divorce, the reason for it must accord with the grounds for divorce in South Carolina.  Each state has its own unique set of grounds for which a divorce may be granted, and the spouse filing for divorce must have adequate proof that the marital situation warrants a divorce based upon the grounds established by that state.  In South Carolina, there is one no-fault ground and there are four fault grounds.

No-fault

A no fault ground for divorce is acceptable in South Carolina if the spouses have lived separately and apart without cohabitation for a period of at least one year.

Fault

The four fault grounds for divorce in South Carolina are based on wrong doings exhibited by one spouse.  The fault grounds for divorce in South Carolina are as follows:

¿ Adultery
¿ Physical abuse and cruelty or reasonable apprehension of physical abuse
¿ Habitual alcoholism and/or drug abuse and addiction
¿ Willful desertion for at least a one year period 

Grounds for divorce

Grounds for divorce—by limiting the reasons that the legal system will accept as valid causes for the termination of a marriage—are designed to prevent the occurrence of rash decisions about the dissolution of marriages. (Read more about the laws surrounding grounds for divorce in South Carolia.)

If the situation of the two spouses does not correspond to any of the grounds listed above, they cannot legally obtain a divorce.  They do have the option of choosing to live separately for one year (though this waiting period is itself intended to encourage the resolution of marital problems by giving married couples time to mend their conflicts so they will not act precipitously).

If you are preparing to obtain a divorce in Charleston, South Carolina, consider the above-stated grounds before you proceed.  Call the Charleston divorce lawyers at the Bleecker Law Firm, LLC, to discuss your concerns and to obtain the skilled legal representation and advocacy that you need to handle your divorce efficiently, professionally, and successfully.