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S.C. Code Ann. § 20-3-10

Grounds for divorce

Applied in 12 court decisions — leading case Rutherford v. Rutherford (1992)

Most recently applied in Miteva v. Robinson (November 2016)

1962 Code SECTION 20-101; 1952 Code SECTION 20-101; 1949 (46) 216; 1952 (47) 2142; 1969 (56) 172; 1979 Act No. 10 SECTION 1.

How often courts cite this section

19781980199020002010201620
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

No divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall be granted except upon one or more of the following grounds, to wit:

(1) adultery;

(2) desertion for a period of one year;

(3) physical cruelty;

(4) habitual drunkenness; provided, that this ground shall be construed to include habitual drunkenness caused by the use of any narcotic drug; or

(5) on the application of either party if and when the husband and wife have lived separate and apart without cohabitation for a period of one year. A plea of res judicata or of recrimination with respect to any other provision of this section shall not be a bar to either party obtaining a divorce on this ground.

Official source: South Carolina Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.