When You are Considering a Separation

Pre-Separation Counseling

Separating from a spouse means bringing one part of your life to an end and starting a new stage of you life. When leaving the marriage (or when your spouse is considering leaving), you need to make sure that you handle it correctly. Everything that you do and how you handle this situation is likely to be later reviewed and scrutinized by your spouse’s lawyer and a judge. The law regarding divorce and separation in South Carolina creates expectations for how spouses and parents will behave when separating and we can help you understand what those expectations are and what you need to do to meet those expectations.

Financial Concerns

Financial issues always arise whenever spouses separate. There are laws in South Carolina that affect how those financial issues are handled and how they apply to every couple who separate in South Carolina. We can help you understand those laws, how they apply to your specific circumstances and what you may be able to expect if separate. We can describe how your assets and debts may be divided, estimate child support obligations, discuss the possibility of alimony payments and explain when one spouse may have to pay the other’s attorney’s fees and costs.

Child Custody and Visitation Considerations

Contemplating a separation or divorce is more complicated any time children are involved. Typical questions that arise include: Who keeps the children if we separate? How do we handle visitation during the separation? Will it hurt me if I do not take the children? Will the judge be mad if I do not let my spouse see the children? We can help you identify potential problems with custody and visitation, suggest possible solutions and discuss the pros and cons of each of those solutions with you prior to your separation.

Privacy Considerations

When you separate and begin your new life, you are going to want privacy from your spouse and others in your life. There are right ways and wrong ways to obtain that privacy and there are some things you will not be able to keep private. We can suggest steps you can take to create some privacy for yourself, help you identify areas of your life that cannot be kept private, areas where you should be especially cautious, and show you the most common ways that spouses hurt themselves by needlessly making private information public.