A South Carolina marital settlement agreement is a written document in which spouses settle how they will divide property and debts and handle support when their marriage ends. It is also called a divorce settlement agreement or a separation agreement. South Carolina's Family Court may review and approve agreements that bear on alimony or separate maintenance and support.[1.1] Fill out the free template below online, or download the PDF.
Last Updated: October 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current South Carolina law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
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Spouses decide what goes into their own South Carolina marital settlement agreement. The FormsPal template, titled South Carolina Marital Separation Agreement, runs eight pages. It has 18 numbered sections, a signature page for each spouse, and a notary acknowledgment page. Each section is a blank to fill in.
Complete every section for a full agreement, or keep the terms you agree on and leave out the rest. Many couples have a lawyer read the finished agreement before they sign, especially when children, a home, or retirement accounts are involved.
Many agreements also settle child support. For child support questions, you can contact the South Carolina Department of Social Services. If you and your spouse cannot agree on a term, a mediator, a person trained in conflict resolution, can help. If one spouse plans to go back to a former name, couples often write that wish into the agreement. When the court grants a final judgment of divorce or an order of separate maintenance, it may allow a spouse to resume a former surname or the surname of a former spouse (Section 20-3-180 of the South Carolina Code).[1.5]
Read section 1.3 of the template before you sign. Under its own wording, the agreement takes effect on the date of signature, but only if the marriage actually ends. If the dissolution does not take place, the agreement is null and void.
South Carolina law lets the Family Court review and approve spouses' agreements about alimony or separate maintenance and support.[1.1] For property, the court makes a final equitable apportionment of the parties' marital property when either party asks for it in the pleadings.[1.3] Section 20-3-630 of the S.C. Code Ann. defines which property counts as marital.[1.4]
The key rule is Section 20-3-130(G) of the S.C. Code Ann. It states:
The Family Court may review and approve all agreements which bear on the issue of alimony or separate maintenance and support, whether brought before the court in actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony, separate maintenance and support actions, or in actions to approve agreement where the parties are living separate and apart. The failure to seek a divorce, separate maintenance, or a legal separation does not deprive the court of its authority and jurisdiction to approve and enforce the agreements.
In plain words, the Family Court can review a settlement agreement in a divorce case, in a separate maintenance and support case, or in an action to approve an agreement for spouses who live apart. Not seeking a divorce, separate maintenance or a legal separation does not take away the court's authority to approve and enforce the agreement.[1.1]
Terms of the agreement that are set forth or incorporated in the decree can be enforced by all remedies available for the enforcement of a judgment, including contempt. They are also enforceable as contract terms.[1.1]
Section 20-3-630 of the S.C. Code Ann. sets the line between property the court can divide and property it cannot. Your agreement should fit that line:
During the marriage, each spouse acquires a vested special equity and ownership right in the marital property, based on the factors set out in Section 20-3-620. Family courts can apportion that right between the spouses when marital litigation is filed or begins.[1.2] On request of either party in the pleadings, the court makes a final equitable apportionment of the marital property.[1.3]
The court's order as it affects distribution of marital property is a final order. It is not subject to modification except by appeal or remand following proper appeal.[1.3] Because of that, many people have an attorney check the property terms before they sign.
In making the apportionment, the court gives each factor listed in Section 20-3-620 the weight it finds appropriate. The first factor is the duration of the marriage together with the ages of the spouses when they married and at the time of the divorce or other marital action.[1.3]
Popular Local Marital Settlement Agreement Forms
A divorce settlement agreement, often known as a property settlement agreement (PSA), is a great tool that could help you settle the divorce process and reduce undesired hassle. Listed here are the states where people look for this template the most.
Many people search for a South Carolina separation agreement when they plan to live apart. The statute lets the Family Court approve an agreement where the parties are living separate and apart.[1.1] The FormsPal template is built for spouses who are ending the marriage, as section 1.3 of the template explains. FormsPal also has a separation agreement template for comparison.
Signing the agreement is one step in a South Carolina divorce case. The Family Court may review and approve an agreement that bears on alimony or separate maintenance and support.[1.1] This list shows a common order. It describes practice, not deadlines or court rules, so ask your county Family Court clerk or an attorney about the forms and steps for your case.
Section 20-3-10 of the South Carolina Code allows a divorce only on one or more of five grounds: adultery, desertion for one year, physical cruelty, habitual drunkenness (including habitual drunkenness caused by narcotic drugs), or the spouses having lived separate and apart without cohabitation for one year.[1.6]
To file for divorce, the plaintiff must have lived in South Carolina for at least one year before the action starts, or, if the plaintiff is a nonresident, the defendant must have. When both spouses live in South Carolina when the action starts, the plaintiff needs only three months of residence (Section 20-3-30).[1.7]
South Carolina divorce settlement agreements raise a few questions again and again. The answers below come from the South Carolina statutes listed in Sources at the end of this page. They describe what the law says, not what one judge may decide in your case.
South Carolina law calls for equitable apportionment of marital property. Under Section 20-3-620 of the S.C. Code Ann., the court makes a final equitable apportionment between the parties of the parties' marital property upon request by either party in the pleadings.[1.3]
In a South Carolina divorce, the court divides property by equitable apportionment, and the division reaches marital property. Marital property is all real and personal property acquired by the parties during the marriage and owned on the date marital litigation is filed or begins, regardless of how legal title is held.[1.4]
Nonmarital property. Under Section 20-3-630 of the S.C. Code Ann., the court does not have jurisdiction or authority to apportion nonmarital property.[1.4]
Property that is genuinely nonmarital is outside the court's power to apportion.[1.4] Two exceptions apply:
The court makes a final equitable apportionment of the parties' marital property when either party asks for it in the pleadings.[1.3] During the marriage, each spouse acquires a vested special equity and ownership right in the marital property, based on the factors in Section 20-3-620. Family courts can apportion that right when marital litigation is filed or begins.[1.2]
Other Marital Settlement Agreement Forms by State
General information, not legal or tax advice.