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As family law attorneys in Charleston<\/strong><\/a>, we are often asked about whether our laws gives a grandparent rights in South Carolina. In this article, we explain a grandparent\u2019s rights to visitation or custody in South Carolina. Also, we explain an important legal concept known as the psychological-parent doctrine. Lastly, we give pointers\u00a0on how a grandparent can assert their rights in South Carolina.<\/p>\n There are two parts to grandparent rights in South Carolina: (1) a grandparent\u2019s right to visitation and (2) a grandparent\u2019s right to custody.<\/p>\n The first part of grandparent rights in South Carolina is visitation. South Carolina Code \u00a7 63-3-530<\/a> allows for grandparents to seek a family court order permitting visitation with their grandchildren when either or both of the child\u2019s parents are deceased, divorced, or separated under these circumstances:<\/p>\n If all of the factors above are met, then the family court may award visitation to the grandparent. The court must decide on the visitation schedule carefully as it may not interfere with the parent-child relationship. The court will also likely look at other things relevant to the child\u2019s life to ensure that the grandparent\u2019s visitation does not interfere with the child\u2019s normal activities.<\/p>\n Clear and Convincing Evidence<\/strong> \u2013 Clear and convincing evidence is a higher standard of proof in court. Evidence is clear and convincing when it is highly and substantially more likely to be true than untrue. The reason why the standard of proofing is high in a grandparent rights claim in South Carolina is because our laws recognize the superior rights of natural parents.<\/p>\n Compelling Circumstances<\/strong> \u2013 Compelling circumstances are determined on a case-by-case basis, but the family court will consider the children\u2019s best interests in deciding custody. It is not enough to show that a child may benefit from contact with a grandparent. Instead, the family judge will consider several factors including:<\/p>\n Attorney\u2019s Fees and Costs<\/strong> \u2013 A grandparent seeking court-ordered visitation in South Carolina should also be aware that the judge will have the ability to order the grandparent to pay the parent or guardian\u2019s attorney\u2019s fees if the grandparent gets less than everything the grandparent asked for. Likewise, if the grandparent prevails, the judge could order the parent or guardian to pay the grandparent\u2019s attorney\u2019s fees, but if a grandparent is reading this article, the grandparent is likely concerned with much more than just money.<\/p>\n The second part of grandparent rights in South Carolina is custody. If a grandparent seeks custody of their grandchild from a biological or adoptive parent, the grandparent will first have to show that he or she (or possibly both) is a \u201cde facto custodian\u201d of the child under South Carolina Code \u00a7 63-3-60<\/a> which provides:<\/p>\n \u201c[A] \u2018de facto custodian\u2019 means, unless the context requires otherwise, a person who has been shown by clear and convincing evidence to have been the primary caregiver for and financial supporter of a child who:<\/p>\n (1) has resided with the person for a period of six months or more if the child is under three years of age; or<\/p>\n (2) has resided with the person for a period of one year or more if the child is three years of age or older.<\/p>\n Any period of time after a legal proceeding has been commenced by a parent seeking to regain custody of the child must not be included in determining whether the child has resided with the person for the required minimum period.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If a grandparent in South Carolina can prove they are a de facto custodian, then the family court may award the grandparent custody if there is clear and convincing evidence of either of the following:<\/p>\n Examples of evidence of unfitness include abandonment, neglect, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. As for other compelling circumstances, those circumstances are decided on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n Like grandparent visitation claims, in deciding whether a grandparent should have custody, the child\u2019s best interest is the primary and controlling consideration for the family court.<\/p>\n While grandparents rights in South Carolina are laid out in South Carolina Code \u00a7 63-3-530<\/a>, the United States Supreme Court has set some limitations on what a family court judge may decide.\u00a0In Troxel v. Granville<\/a><\/span>, an unmarried couple had two children who visited frequently with the father\u2019s parents (paternal grandparents). After the father died, the mother decided to limit the paternal grandparent\u2019s visitation to once per month and some time during the holidays. The grandparents filed a lawsuit in family court, and the judge decided that it was in the children\u2019s best interest to spend more time with the grandparents. Howevver, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed.<\/p>\n In Troxel<\/span>, the U.S. Supreme Court analyzed the case under the 14th Amendment\u2019s Due Process Clause in the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court noted that the 14th Amendment\u2019s Due Process Clause \u201cprovides heightened protection against government interference with certain fundamental rights and liberty interests.\u201d Applying the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled that \u201cthe visitation order in this case was an unconstitutional infringement on [the mother\u2019s] fundamental right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of her two daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n In cases involving grandparent rights in South Carolina, our courts have recognized the Psychological-Parent Doctrine<\/strong>, which allows for a third party, including a grandparent, to request custody or visitation with a child. In deciding whether there is a psychological-parent relationship between a grandparent and a child, the family court analyzes the folloing four factors:<\/p>\n When it comes to grandparent rights in South Carolina, judges hear all sorts of stories regarding the kids\u2019 relationships with their grandparents. Often, the stories don\u2019t match, and the court will try to figure out the truth.<\/p>\n A fundamental way of doing this is for a grandparent to build up their bank of tangible evidence. Pictures of grandparents with the children are excellent. Receipts, credit card and bank statements, airline itineraries, or other evidence of events attended by both the grandparent and child may be useful as well. Receipts or credit cards or bank statements of items bought for the kids should be gathered. These items can be useful, such as clothes, or strictly fun, such as toys.<\/p>\n Grandparents should look for emails, letters, or text messages with the parents to show evidence of them communicating about the kids. They should look for birthday or holiday cards to the grandparents and signed by the kids. They should look for emails, letters, and text messages with the kids. They should check the phone logs for evidence of repeated phone calls with the kids.<\/p>\n As you can tell from reading this article, the issue of grandparent rights in South Carolina is very complicated. If a grandparent in South Carolina seeks custody of or visitation with a grandchild, the burden of proving the case is high, the factors the court must consider are many, and there are 14th Amendment issues involved. In other words, if you are a grandparent seeking custody or visititation, then don\u2019t go it alone \u2013 hire a family law attorney. If you are in Charleston or the surrounding areas, then contact our family court lawyers today.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As family law attorneys in Charleston, we are often asked about whether our laws gives a grandparent rights in South Carolina. In this article, we explain a grandparent\u2019s rights to visitation or custody in South Carolina. Also, we explain an important legal concept known as the psychological-parent doctrine. Lastly, we give pointers\u00a0on how a grandparent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[14206,36204,13922,6658],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-67951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","tag-carolina","tag-grandparent","tag-rights","tag-south"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Are Grandparent Rights in South Carolina?<\/h2>\n
Grandparent Rights in South Carolina \u2013 Visitation<\/h3>\n
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Grandparent Rights in South Carolina \u2013 Custody<\/h3>\n
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U.S. Constitutional Limitations on Grandparent Rights in South Carolina<\/h2>\n
What is the Psychological-Parent Doctrine in South Carolina?<\/h2>\n
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How Do Grandparents Make a Claim for Custody or Visitation in South Carolina?<\/h2>\n
Charleston Lawyers for Grandparent Rights in South Carolina<\/h2>\n