Divorce is an unfortunate but necessary process our society.  We enter marriages with the best intentions and all the hope for a wonderful ever after, but all too often, time changes all things.  

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Maybe we entered into something we were not ready for, maybe we grow as individuals and not as a couple, maybe behaviors or little concerns about the personality of our spouse turn out to be something far worse.  Regardless, we cannot ever perfectly plan for all outcomes, and sometimes it is necessary to go our separate ways, to fully become the people we were meant to become. 

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Divorce in South Carolina is a serious legal action.  While some states offer purely "no-fault" (sometimes called irretrievable breakdowns of the marriage) divorces and no reason is necessary to be granted a divorce, South Carolina requires some underlying cause or ground. 

 

In South Carolina, there are fault-based grounds for divorce and a single no-fault ground.  The grounds for a divorce are important as fault or no fault is a factor in some of the Family Court's considerations of property distribution or child custody.  Please see those topics for more information.

 

 The fault based grounds are: 

 

Adultery.   Adultery is an extramarital sexual affair.  Fortunately a spouse does not need to catch the other 'in the act' but only needs to prove to the court that the offending spouse had "opportunity" and "inclination."  This means that there was at least one occasion where the spouse had the chance to act on their desire to pursue a romantic interest outside the marriage.  For example joining a dating website and being seen going into a hotel, 

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Abandonment

Physical Cruelty

Habitual Drunkenness or Drug Abuse 

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The no-fault ground is one year's continuous separation.