2017-2018 Bill 3126: Child Custody Orders - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 122nd Session, 2017-2018 3 4 H. 3126 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. McKnight, Pitts, Hill, Magnuson, Bedingfield, Putnam, Elliott, Long and Willis 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\cc\15010vr17.docx 11 12 Introduced in the House on January 10, 2017 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary 14 15 Summary: Child custody orders 16 17 18 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 19 20 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 21 12/15/2016 House Prefiled 22 12/15/2016 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary 23 1/10/2017 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 83) 24 1/10/2017 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary ( House Journalpage 83) 25 3/2/2017 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Pitts, Hill, Magnuson 26 3/9/2017 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Bedingfield 27 3/22/2017 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Putnam 28 4/26/2017 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Elliott 29 2/6/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Long 30 2/7/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Willis 31 32 View the latest legislative information at the website 33 34 35 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 36 37 12/15/2016 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 6315220, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH 12 CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PARENTING PLANS, SO 13 AS TO CREATE A PRESUMPTION THAT IT IS IN THE BEST 14 INTEREST OF THE CHILD TO SPEND APPROXIMATELY 15 AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF TIME WITH EACH PARENT, 16 WITH EXCEPTIONS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 6315240, 17 RELATING TO CHILD CUSTODY ORDERS, SO AS TO 18 REQUIRE THE COURT TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION 19 CERTAIN FACTORS WHEN DETERMINING WHAT IS IN 20 THE BEST INTEREST OF A CHILD, TO REQUIRE THAT A 21 CHILD CUSTODY ORDER INCLUDE FINDINGS OF FACT IF 22 THE TIMESHARING SCHEDULE DOES NOT ALLOCATE 23 APPROXIMATELY EQUAL PARENTING TIME TO EACH 24 PARENT, AND TO PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS TO MODIFY 25 CHILD CUSTODY ORDERS. 26 27 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 28 Carolina: 29 30 SECTION 1. Section 6315220 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 31 259 of 2012, is amended to read: 32 33 “Section 6315220. (A)(1) At all temporary hearings where 34 custody is contested, each parent must prepare, file, and submit to 35 the court a parenting plan, which reflects parental preferences, the 36 allocation of parenting time to be spent with each parent, and 37 major decisions, including, but not limited to, the child’s 38 education, medical and dental care, extracurricular activities and 39 religious training. However, the parties may elect to prepare, file, 40 and submit a joint parenting plan. 41 (2) There is a presumption that a timesharing schedule of 42 approximately equal allocation of parenting time to each parent is

[3126] 2 1 in the best interest of the child. In determining whether the 2 presumption is overcome, the court shall evaluate the evidence 3 taking into consideration the best interest of the child pursuant to 4 Section 6315240(B). 5 (3) The court shall issue temporary and final custody orders 6 only after considering these parenting plans; however, the failure 7 by a party to submit a parenting plan to the court does not preclude 8 the court from issuing a temporary or final custody order. 9 (B) At the final hearing, either party may file and submit an 10 updated parenting plan for the court’s consideration. 11 (C) The South Carolina Supreme Court shall develop rules and 12 forms for the implementation of the parenting plan.” 13 14 SECTION 2. Section 6315240 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 15 259 of 2012, is amended to read: 16 17 “Section 6315240. (A) In issuing or modifying an order for 18 custody affecting the rights and responsibilities of the parents, the 19 order may include, but is not limited to: 20 (1) the approval of a parenting plan; 21 (2) the award of sole custody to one parent with appropriate 22 parenting time for the noncustodial parent; 23 (3) the award of joint custody, in which case the order must 24 include: 25 (a) residential arrangements with each parent in 26 accordance with the needs of each child; and 27 (b) how consultations and communications between the 28 parents will take place, generally and specifically, with regard to 29 major decisions concerning the child’s health, medical and dental 30 care, education, extracurricular activities, and religious training; 31 (4) other custody arrangements as the court may determine 32 to be in the best interest of the child. 33 (B) In issuing or modifying a custody order, the court must 34 consider the best interest of the child, which may include, but is 35 not limited to: 36 (1) the temperament and developmental needs of the child; 37 (2) the capacity and the disposition of the parents to 38 understand and meet the needs of the child; 39 (3) the preferences of each child; 40 (4) the wishes of the parents as to custody of the child and 41 the allocation of parenting time to each parent; 42 (5) the past and current interaction and relationship of the 43 child with each parent, the child’s siblings, and any other person,

[3126] 3 1 including a grandparent, who may significantly affect the best 2 interest of the child; 3 (6) the actions of each parent to encourage the continuing 4 parentchild relationship between the child and the other parent, as 5 is appropriate, including compliance with court orders; 6 (7) the manipulation by or coercive behavior of the parents 7 in an effort to involve the child in the parents’ dispute; 8 (8) any effort by one parent to disparage the other parent in 9 front of the child; 10 (9) the ability of each parent to be actively involved in the 11 life of the child; 12 (10) the child’s adjustment to his or her home, school, and 13 community environments; 14 (11) the stability of the child’s existing and proposed 15 residences; 16 (12) the mental and physical health of all individuals 17 involved, except that a disability of a proposed custodial parent or 18 other party, in and of itself, must not be determinative of custody 19 unless the proposed custodial arrangement is not in the best 20 interest of the child; 21 (13) the child’s cultural and spiritual background; 22 (14) whether the child or a sibling of the child has been 23 abused or neglected; 24 (15) whether one parent has perpetrated domestic violence or 25 child abuse or the effect on the child of the actions of an abuser if 26 any domestic violence has occurred between the parents or 27 between a parent and another individual or between the parent and 28 the child; 29 (16) whether one parent has relocated more than one hundred 30 miles from the child’s primary residence in the past year, unless 31 the parent relocated for safety reasons; and 32 (17) the frequency with which a parent would be likely to 33 leave the child in the care of a nonrelative on evenings and 34 weekends when the other parent would be available and willing to 35 provide care; and 36 (18) other factors as the court considers necessary. 37 (C) A custody order issued or modified by the court must be 38 supported by written findings of fact if the order establishes a 39 timesharing schedule that does not allocate approximately equal 40 parenting time to each parent, which must address why it is not in 41 the best interest of the child for each parent to have approximately 42 equal parenting time.

[3126] 4 1 (D) A determination of custody, a parenting plan, or a 2 timesharing schedule may not be modified without a determination 3 that modification is in the best interest of the child and a showing 4 of a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in 5 circumstance.” 6 7 SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the 8 Governor. 9 XX 10

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