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This is a separate page of general information about South Carolina family law. It is not legal advice. Opening this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
How support is calculated
South Carolina uses child support guidelines that are reviewed on a statutory cycle. The calculation is based on gross income and ordinarily considers both parents’ incomes, the number of children, health-insurance costs, work-related child-care costs, extraordinary medical expenses, and certain other adjustments identified in the guidelines, including other children in the home and alimony.
The South Carolina Department of Social Services publishes a child support calculator that applies the current guidelines. The calculator is a starting point. The court may deviate from the guideline amount when the facts and the deviation standards in the guidelines support a different figure.
Duration
Support generally continues until a child is eighteen and has finished high school, or until the end of the school year in which the child turns nineteen, subject to the current statute and the terms of the order. Support may continue in exceptional situations, such as a child with a disability. Support can also be addressed in connection with post-secondary education when the law and the facts permit.
Child support does not end automatically. A parent who believes a child has been emancipated, or that support should otherwise terminate, must obtain a court order. Form SCCA 440 is commonly used to request emancipation.
Modification
Support may be increased or decreased when a substantial change of circumstances is shown—for example, an involuntary and substantial change in income, a change in the child’s residential arrangement, emancipation, or a serious change in health. Modification generally runs from the date a request is filed, not from the date the change first occurred. A parent who waits to file may be unable to adjust arrears that accrued in the meantime.
If the existing order was entered in another state and a parent or the child still lives in that state, that state may have to handle the modification. The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act governs many out-of-state support questions.
Payment and collection
Many orders require payment through the Clerk of Court. When payments are made that way and fall behind, the clerk may issue a rule to show cause without a new lawsuit by the other parent. A parent who cannot pay should not ignore the order. The existing obligation remains in effect until the court modifies it.