View Changes And Revision History Of Legal South Carolina Visitation Forms For Free

South Carolina courts award custody based on the best interests of the child. Establishing paternity gives both parents equal custody rights. When determining the best custody arrangements for a child, a judge generally considers the following: Each parent's relationship with the child.

Judges feel that children are best off when they are reminded regularly that they have two parents, both of whom care about them. A judge usually will not deny or restrict a parent's right to reasonable visitation unless he finds that the visitation is bad for a child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health.

South Carolina mandates that a noncustodial parent receive a minimum amount of visitation unless that parent's parental rights have been terminated. Typically, a minimum visitation award will grant a parent one weeknight visit and overnight visits every other weekend.

In order to initiate a custody action, file the following forms: SCCA 467, SCCA 401F, SCCA 400.41 SRL-VIS, and SCCA 405F. Respectively, these are a cover sheet, summons, complaint, and motion. Once completed, make two copies of each ? one for each party.

To convince the family court to CHANGE custody, a parent must prove three things: A material change in circumstances; The material change in circumstances happened AFTER the initial family court custody order; and. The material change substantially affects the child's best interests.

To file a pro se visitation complaint, a father should: Consider and define the visitation he wants family court to grant. File the complaint in the county/state where the child resides. Make sure the visitation schedule is spelled out in the final visitation order.