Home/Practice areas/Military Divorce
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.
The same Family Court, with military facts in the case
A divorce, custody case, or support case involving a service member is still a South Carolina Family Court case when the court has authority to hear it. The grounds for divorce are the same grounds described on the divorce page. What changes is the set of facts: duty station, deployment, basic allowance for housing, retirement points, and whether a spouse lives on or off base in Beaufort County.
The work is family law, handled from Bluffton, for households whose income and schedules are shaped by military service.
Pay, retirement, and parenting time
Military pay and allowances can matter when the court sets child support or alimony, and military retired pay can matter when the court divides marital property. Federal rules sit alongside the South Carolina order. The precise treatment depends on the length of the marriage, the years of service, and the current statutes and regulations. This page does not restate those formulas.
Deployment and training schedules can make an ordinary parenting calendar unusable. The court can address that in a temporary order or a final parenting plan. A deployment is not, by itself, a reason for the other parent to ignore the order that is already in place.
Where the work is done
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Parris Island are in Beaufort County. The office that handles these matters is in Bluffton, at 23 Plantation Park Drive, Suite 503. Hearings are in Beaufort County Family Court at the courthouse in Beaufort. There is no office on base.
One office, in Bluffton
This work is handled from the Bluffton office. There is no second office. People in Hilton Head Island and in the city of Beaufort are served from that same office, and their cases are heard in Beaufort County Family Court.