Family Lawyer in Greenville

Guiding Clients Through Divorce & Child Custody Issues

Not all relationships work out, and the family law attorney at Morris Law understands that. Divorce, child custody, and child visitation are common family law matters that can be highly stressful to navigate on your own in the midst of a failed relationship or marriage. This is why it’s best to reach out to experienced legal professionals for help with any family law issues you’re facing.

When you hire Morris Law for your South Carolina family law case, you’ll have a caring attorney by your side from beginning to end. Whether your case goes to trial or is settled out of the South Carolina family court, our attorney will work hard to help you through this difficult time in your life, easing your legal worries and helping you find common ground in a difficult situation. Call our Greenville family law office today to discuss your legal needs with a compassionate, experienced family law attorney.

What Legal Services Do We Offer Clients?

Our Greenville family law attorney has spent years assisting clients throughout South Carolina with various family law issues. At our trusted family law firm, we understand the importance of getting the desired outcome for your family law case so you can get the fresh start you’re searching for. So, whether you’re concerned about the well-being of your children or worry about the financial impact divorce will have on your family, you can count on our Greenville family law team to provide legal assistance.

We regularly assist clients with a wide range of family court matters, such as:

Divorce
Alimony
Legal separation (including separation agreements)
Child support modification
Child custody & visitation
Department of Social Services cases
Post-divorce issues, such as recalculation of child support and modification of custody and visitation

You deserve to feel confident that you’ve gotten the best possible outcome on your case, and you can achieve this by working with a Greenville family law attorney who you know has your best interests at heart. If you’re worried about your upcoming South Carolina family court date, it’s essential to speak with a caring family law attorney as soon as possible so you get some peace of mind regarding your case. Call our Greenville, SC, law office today for legal guidance on your family’s future.

What Should You Know About the South Carolina Divorce Process?

One of the most common family law matters we help clients with is divorce, so we encourage you to call us today if you’re thinking of legally ending your marriage in South Carolina. Before you begin the divorce process, it’s essential to understand the divorce requirements in this state.

First, either you or your spouse must meet the residency requirement. This states that at least one spouse must have lived in South Carolina for one year or more, or both spouses must have lived here for three months or more. If this is the case for you and your spouse, you can move on to the next step in the divorce proceedings in this state.

In the case of divorce, South Carolina recognizes both fault and no-fault divorces. You can choose from the following four fault-based grounds for divorce in this state:

Adultery
Physical cruelty
Habitual drunkenness or drug abuse
Desertion for at least one year

If you don’t want to spend time proving fault in family court, you can opt for a no-fault divorce. To pursue a divorce on a no-fault basis in South Carolina, you must show that you have been living apart from your spouse for at least one year.

If you need help proving one of the fault-based grounds for divorce in this state or want to get some answers to your questions about divorce law, contact us to speak with a skilled family law attorney. You can rest assured that we have your best interests in mind and are here to help you on the path forward after divorce.

Do You Need Help Dividing Your Marital Property?

Dividing the property you share with your spouse is an important part of the divorce process, so you should become familiar with how this works for best results. In South Carolina, property division is guided by the principle of equitable distribution, which means your marital property will be divided fairly between you and your spouse.

Note that this doesn’t mean it will be divided equally like it is in community property states. With equitable division, several factors are considered before dividing the marital assets. Some details that will determine the percentage of property you get include:

The length of the marriage
Each spouse’s current income and future earning capacity
Each spouse’s financial and non-financial contributions during the marriage
The amount of non-marital property each spouse gets

So, if your income is much higher than your spouse’s and will likely remain that way, you might end up with fewer marital assets or more marital debts to pay after the divorce. On the other hand, if your income is lower and you’re getting custody of the children, you might get more than half of the marital property in family court. A skilled family lawyer can advise you on what to expect from the property division step of your divorce, so call our firm to discuss this family court matter.

How Does Child Custody Work in South Carolina?

Divorce can be painful and complicated, but the right attorney in Greenville can make the process easier on you and your family by helping you deal with child custody issues. At Morris Law, we realize that many divorcing couples have children to consider, and we want to make sure that your family is cared for while your legal rights and custody decisions are appropriately administered.

We also want you to remember that married parents have equal rights to their children unless those rights are disputed for a specific reason in a legal family court. Granted, child custody cases can be more complicated when the parents are not married, as custody defaults to the biological mother if the child was born to unmarried parents. However, fathers with proof of paternity can petition for rights or custody, regardless of marital status.

If you want to make sure you can remain involved in your child’s life, you’ll need to know what custody arrangement to seek in family court. South Carolina parents can pursue two main types of custody.

One is legal custody, which is the right to make important decisions about the child’s life. You’ll want legal custody if you want to help decide which school they will go to, which religion they will be raised in, and what medical care they can get. Joint custody is the most common arrangement to ensure both parents have a say in these aspects of their child’s life. However, you can seek sole custody if you can prove it’s not in the child’s best interests for their other parent to be involved.

The other type of custody is physical custody, which refers to which parent the child lives with and who provides the child’s daily care. If you believe it’s best for your child to live with you and have visitation time with their other parent, you can seek sole custody. However, this may require you to present the family court with evidence that living with only one parent is in the child’s best interests. Otherwise, the family court judge might order you to share physical custody with the child’s other parent.

Regardless of the child custody arrangement you’re considering, you should seek legal representation from a skilled family lawyer. Greenville, SC, is home to Morris Law, a legal team that has been providing guidance to clients for years. We have extensive litigation experience and have worked on numerous family law cases within the local courts, so you can trust us to handle your case with ease. We know that the care of your children is of utmost importance to you, and we are here to work with you to arrange a custody or visitation arrangement that works for you and your family. Please call our office today for help with the legal process.

Do You Need Help Calculating Child Support?

In South Carolina, both parents are expected to provide financial support for their children. This is why child support is a common family law issue that’s often worked out in the court system during or after divorce. If you’re struggling with this family law matter, let our attorney assist you with your case, as we have experience with calculating, enforcing, and modifying child support.

If you’re the custodial parent who spends the most time with the child, the other parent will likely be ordered to pay you child support. The amount will depend on a few factors, including:

The parents’ incomes
The number of children
The amount of time each parent spends with the children
Any extra expenses required to raise the children, such as health insurance, school tuition, or childcare

If you believe you’ll be ordered to pay child support but are worried about your ability to afford it, you should contact a Greenville, SC, attorney for legal help. Our team can calculate the amount you will likely pay and assist with modifying it in the future if necessary. We can also answer any questions you have about child support enforcement. Call today to discuss your legal options.

How Can Our Greenville Family Attorney Help with Your Family Law Matters?

If you’re going through a divorce in South Carolina or need guidance on post-divorce issues, we encourage you to contact our Greenville family law office for legal representation. Our lawyers understand how overwhelming it can be to face complex legal matters like child custody, child support, prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements, and more. That’s why we’re committed to assisting our clients with these family law issues in order to get a positive result whenever possible.

Our team has spent years providing legal guidance to clients in Greenville County and nearby counties across South Carolina, so you can count on us to offer representation for your case involving family law, probate administration, or personal injury. To learn more about what our Greenville, SC, team can do for you, call Morris Law at 864-865-0068.