South Carolina State Law
A. General/Program-At-A-Glance
| A1. How many local IV-D offices are in your state (excluding agencies with cooperative agreements)? |
| There are four (4) IV-D offices in SC. |
| A2. Does your state have statutes that define the attorney-client relationship between the state's attorney and the agency only? |
| Yes |
| A2.1. If yes, what is the statutory citation? |
|
SC Code section 43.5.590(J)
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| A2.2. Did your state have the state's bar counsel issue an opinion setting the attorney-client relationship? |
| No. |
| A2.3. If yes, please explain. |
| Not applicable |
B. UIFSA
| B1. What is the statutory citation for your state's UIFSA? |
|
63-17-2900
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| B2. How many copies or sets of documents does your state need for an intergovernmental case referral? |
| The original and two copies. Three documents total. |
C. Reciprocity
| C1. With which foreign countries does your state have a state level reciprocal agreement for child support enforcement? (Do not include federal foreign reciprocating countries in your answer.) |
| Germany |
| C1.1. Does your state exercise its option to receive Federal Funding Participation (FFP) for enforcement of spousal-only orders for foreign reciprocating countries? |
| No |
| C1.2. If yes, please explain. |
| Not applicable |
| C2. Has your state established reciprocity with any Native American tribal courts? |
| No |
| C2.1. If yes, list the tribes and identify services provided, if less than full services. |
| Not applicable |
| C3. Does your state accept direct applications from parents in non-reciprocating or non-treaty countries? ** |
| Yes |
| C4. When a Hague Convention country seeks registration of a Convention support order in your state, does your state allow the country to send an abstract (or summary) of the order on the Hague Abstract of a Decision form in lieu of the complete text? (See UIFSA 706 (b) (1).) ** |
D. Age of Majority
| D1. What is the age of majority in your state? |
| 18 years of age. |
| D2. What is the statutory citation for the age of majority? |
|
SC Code Sec. 63-3-530(A)(17)
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| D3. If not addressed in the order, at what age is child support automatically terminated as a matter of state law? Qualify, if necessary. |
| It is not automatically terminated. A Court Order is necessary to terminate support. |
| D4. Does the date of the order determine the law that is applied? |
| No |
| D4.1. If yes, please explain. |
| Not applicable |
| D5. Does child support end if the child leaves the household, but does not emancipate? |
| No |
| D5.1. Optional comments regarding emancipation. |
| Child support would not end without a court order removing that child from the support order. |
| D6. Does your state allow support to be paid beyond the age of majority under any circumstances (for example, the child is handicapped or in college)? |
| Yes |
| D6.1. If yes, please explain. |
| Child is handicapped, or child is still in high school and expected to graduate before age 19. |
| D7. Does your state automatically reduce current support owed for remaining children after one of the children in an order reaches the age of majority or otherwise emancipates? |
| No |
| D7.1. If yes, please describe the procedure. |
| Not applicable |
| D8. Does your state accept a application from a party after all of the children on the case have emancipated? |
| D8.1 If not, how does this affect interstate referrals? |
E. Statute of Limitations
| E1. What is your State's statute of limitations for collection of past-due support? |
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None.
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| E2. What is your State's statute of limitations for paternity establishment? |
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No statute of limitations but IV-D will not establish beyond age 18.
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| E3. Is dormancy revival/renewal possible? |
| No |
| E3.1. If yes, please explain the circumstances when it's possible and how long it's possible. |
|
Not applicable
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F. Support Details
| F1. What guideline type or method does your state use to calculate child support (for example, Shared Income Model, Percentage of Income Model, Melson Formula)? |
|
Income Shares model (last updated in 2006)
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| F2. Does your state charge interest on arrears? |
| No |
| F2.1. If yes, please indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
|
Not applicable
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| F3. Does your state charge interest on retroactive support? |
| No |
| F3.1. If yes, please indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
| Not applicable |
| F4. Does your state charge interest on adjudicated arrears? |
| No |
| F4.1. If yes, please indicate the amount of interest charged and any related conditions. |
|
Not applicable
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| F5. Will your state enforce a medical debt for 50 percent of the uninsured portion? |
| No |
| F5.1. If yes, under what circumstances? |
| Not applicable |
| F6. Does your state elect to recover costs or charge fees in your IV-D state plan? |
| Yes |
| F6.1. If yes, what costs are recovered from or fees charged to the obligee? |
| Genetic testing fees only. |
| F6.2. If yes, what costs are recovered from or fees charged to the obligor? |
| None. |
| F7. Does your state recover costs on behalf of the initiating state? |
| No |
| F7.1. Optional comments regarding recovery of initiating state's fees. |
| Not applicable |
| F8. What is the statutory citation for your state's long-arm statute to establish or enforce child support? |
|
S.C. Code Sec. 63-17-20
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| F9. Does your state establish, enforce, or modify spousal maintenance orders? |
| Yes |
| F9.1. If yes, under what circumstances? |
| SC does not establish spousal support. SC does not modify spousal support. SC enforces spousal support if it was included in the child support order. |
| F10. Does your state require the initiating state to include information about the new spouse or partner upon a request for establishment or modification? (See General Testimony, AT-11-07) |
| No |
| F10.1. Optional comments regarding required information on spouse or partner. |
| None |
| F11. How does your state impose and collect the mandatory annual fee applicable to IV-D cases for people who never received IV-A assistance? |
| From the Custodial Parent |
| F11.1. Does your state collect the fee by retaining the support collected on behalf of the person but not the first $500? |
| Yes |
| F11.2 Does your state collect the fee from the person applying for IV-D services? |
| Yes |
| F11.3. Does your state collect the fee from the absent parent? |
| No |
| F11.4. Does your state pay the fee out of its own funds? |
| No |
| F12. When did your state implement the required Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) limited-assignment provision? |
| On the mandatory effective date. |
| F13. Will your state pass through (and disregard for TANF eligibility purposes) the excepted portion to families in current assistance cases? |
| No |
| F14. Does your state participate in the pass-through in former assistance cases? |
| No |
| F14.1. If yes, provide the date. |
| Not applicable |
| F15. Will your state discontinue eligible assignments under the DRA of 2005? |
| No |
| F15.1. If yes, list the eligible assignments your state would discontinue. |
| N/A |
| F15.2. When will your state discontinue each type of assignment? |
| N/A |
| F16. Does your state follow PRWORA or DRA distribution ordering rules in former assistance cases? |
| PRWORA |
| F17. What are your state's requirements to redirect payments from the court-order payee when a child on the order is receiving TANF with a different payee? |
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File a Change of Payee and Redirect Payment Order with the appropriate Clerk of Court.
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| F17.1. What are your state's requirements to redirect payments from the court-order payee when a child on the order is receiving Medicaid only with a different payee? |
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File a Change of Payee Order with the Court.
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| F17.2. What are your state's requirements to redirect payments from the court-order payee when a child on the order is with a different payee and not receiving TANF or Medicaid only? |
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An application for child support services is required in order to change a payee.
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| F17.3. How does your state collect the $25.00 annual fee on never-TANF cases? |
| All applicants who have never received TANF will be charged a $25.00 fee each year after the first $500.00 in child support has been collected and paid out. |
| F18. Will your state recover costs from a U.S. resident non-custodial parent in foreign reciprocating or treaty cases? ** |
| No |
| F18.1 If yes, describe all costs arising in practice (for example, court costs or legal fees). ** |
| F19. Does your state send CSENet transactions to request interest information?(MSC R GRINT) |
| F20. Does your state send CSENet transactions to provide another state with interest and arrears information? (MSC P GSTAI) |
G. Income Withholding
| G1. What specific source of income is not subject to withholding? |
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None
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| G2. Does your state have any limits on income withholding in addition to the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limits? |
| No |
| G2.1. If yes, what are those limits? |
| Not applicable |
| G3. What is the allowable fee per pay period employers may charge for processing income withholding payments? |
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Up to $3.00 per withholding.
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| G4. After receiving an income withholding order or notice, what is the date by which the employer is required to implement income withholding? |
| Next pay period. |
| G5. What is the date by which an employer must remit amounts withheld from an employee's pay? |
| Within seven (7) days of withholding. |
| G6. What are your state's procedures for sanctioning employers for not implementing income withholding? |
| Rule to Show Cause (Contempt) action in Family Court. |
| G7. What is the penalty to an employer for failure to remit payments withheld? |
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Total amount withheld.
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| G8. Does your state allow direct income withholding of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits across state lines? |
| No |
| G8.1. Explain your process for receiving direct withholding orders across state lines. |
|
Not applicable
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| G8.2. What documents are required to intercept UI benefits? |
| A registration packet, CSET #1, certified copies of all court orders, a complete pay history, an affidavit of arrears. |
| G9. Does your state allow direct income withholding of workers' compensation (WC) benefits across state lines? |
| No |
| G9.1. Optional comments regarding direct withholding of WC benefits across state lines. |
| None |
| G10. How does an obligor contest income withholding in your state? |
| Family Court. |
| G11. When the obligor has more than one claim for child support against his or her income, what is your state's priority scheme for income-withholding orders? For example, the employer should allocate the available amount for withholding equally among all orders or prorate available amount across orders. |
| All will receive prorated payments if income is insufficient to satisfy all requests completely. |
| G11.1. If an employer in your state receives more than one income withholding order for child support from other states, can the employer request your assistance? |
| Yes |
| G11.2. If assistance is not available, explain how employers should proceed. Provide a citation for the state law that governs how they should proceed. |
|
Not applicable
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| G12. Does your state require any mandatory deductions, such as union dues or medical insurance premiums, to arrive at net pay from gross pay when calculating disposable income for child support purposes? |
| No. |
| G13. When does your state require the employer to send notice of an employee's termination? |
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Within twenty (20) days of employee's departure.
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| G14. How long should an employer retain the income withholding orders (IWO) after terminating an employee, in anticipation of reinstating the withholding should the employee be rehired? |
| Within twenty (20) days of employee's departure. |
| G15. Does your state charge any fees to the obligor that the employer must withhold and remit to the state? |
| The Clerks of Court charge a 5% administrative fee on top of the support order amount. |
| G16. Does your state offer an alternate web-based payment mechanism in addition to paper and EFT/EDI? |
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No.
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| G17. Can another state send a direct income withholding order to any of the following in your state: employer, financial institution (explain which institutions), bureau of workers' compensation, or other income payer? |
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Employers only. Liens are the appropriate tool otherwise.
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| G18. If there is insufficient income for an employer to withhold for both the total amount of child support and medical support, describe your state's prioritization between child support and medical support. |
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Ongoing child support obligation is the top priority.
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| G19. If your state has more than one state or jurisdiction requesting to collect support for the same obligor/obligee combination under the same court order for the same children, (for example where current support goes to the CP and other states have claims for past periods based on payment of TANF), what is your state's procedure for distributing payments among these arrears claims? |
| The cp would be paid his/her monthly court ordered obligation and anything received over the monthly obligation would be applied towards arrears. Our current IV-D system is not designed to pay another state if the case type is an intrastate case type. If the case type is an interstate case type we forward all payment(s) to the interstate agency so that they can properly allocate the collection(s). |
| G20. If your practice for distribution of payments between cases is directed by state law or rule, what is the citation? |
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We are not directed by state law but follow the Federal citation, 45 CFR 302.51.
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| G21. Does your state's law require a signature on the income withholding order? |
| No |
H. Paternity
| H1. When your state enters an order establishing paternity, do you also address issues of custody and visitation? |
| No |
| H1.1. If yes, please explain. |
| not applicable |
| H2. What is the percentage of probability for genetic testing that creates a rebuttable or conclusive presumption of paternity? |
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95% - Rebuttable
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| H3. Optional comments regarding legislation that makes paternity acknowledgments conclusive. |
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None
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| H4. What is the effective date of the state law that makes paternity acknowledgments conclusive? |
| 06/10/1997 |
| H4.1. Were acknowledgments prior to that effective date rebuttable? |
| Yes |
| H4.2. Optional comments regarding paternity acknowledgments prior to that date. |
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Requests for paternity acknowledgements must be name by either the mother or father of the child. They must contact the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. Their website is: http://www.scdhec.gov/VitalRecords/. Please note there is a cost associated with obtaining copies of birth certificates. None
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| H5. Does marriage constitute a rebuttable presumption of paternity? |
| Yes |
| H5.1. If yes, how is the presumption rebutted? |
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Family Court Proceeding.
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| H6. If the father's name is on the birth certificate and paternity has not been established by any other means, does this mean conclusive determination of paternity? |