How South Carolina calculates alimony
South Carolina calls it alimony, and like a handful of other states, it has no statutory calculation formula on the books today. There's no percentage, no worksheet, no chart a judge fills in. Instead, S.C. Code §20-3-130(C) gives the court 13 factors to weigh "in such proportion as it finds appropriate" — everything from marriage length and each spouse's earning potential to marital and nonmarital property, existing support obligations from a prior relationship, and a catch-all for whatever else the court thinks is relevant. That's a wide-open discretionary system, which is why this page does not estimate an amount.
But South Carolina isn't just another no-formula state. It has one feature that dominates everything else in the analysis: the adultery bar in §20-3-130(A). If the spouse asking for alimony committed adultery before the earlier of two events — the formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement, or the entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance and support (or an order approving a settlement) — that spouse is barred from alimony completely. Not reduced. Not one factor among many. Barred. It doesn't matter if the marriage lasted 30 years or if one spouse earns ten times the other; the bar applies regardless of income disparity or marriage length, and it covers every flavor of alimony South Carolina recognizes: permanent periodic, rehabilitative, reimbursement, and lump-sum. The standard of proof is "clear preponderance of the evidence," and courts can find adultery proven circumstantially through evidence of opportunity and inclination — you don't need a confession or photographs. One important wrinkle: adultery that happens after the settlement agreement is signed or the permanent order is entered doesn't trigger the bar. Timing is everything here, which is exactly why the calculator asks about the cutoff directly instead of just asking a yes/no adultery question.
That same timing cutoff shows up again inside the factor list itself. Factor 10 of §20-3-130(C) lets a judge weigh marital misconduct or fault by either spouse — but only if that conduct affected the parties' economic circumstances or contributed to the marriage falling apart, and only for conduct that happened before the identical cutoff used in the adultery bar. So South Carolina effectively treats pre-cutoff adultery by the requesting spouse as an absolute bar, while pre-cutoff misconduct more generally (including adultery by the paying spouse, or other misconduct) becomes just one of 13 factors a judge weighs. It's a two-tier fault system baked into one statute.
On duration, South Carolina still allows something a shrinking number of states permit: true permanent, lifetime periodic alimony. There's no statutory duration table or formula limiting how long an award can run. Courts also have rehabilitative alimony (support for a defined period tied to becoming self-sufficient), reimbursement alimony (repaying a spouse for contributions made during the marriage, such as funding the other's education), separate maintenance, and lump-sum alimony available, and they set the term case-by-case using the same 13 factors. There's no "10-year marriage equals X years of support" rule here the way there is in some other states — it genuinely comes down to the judge's read of the facts.
Content date: July 2026. Confirm current law and its application with a qualified attorney. Statute citation: S.C. Code Ann. §20-3-130 (award of alimony and other allowances, including the adultery bar at subsection (A) and the 13-factor list at subsection (C)). Pending bills: H.3074, H.3078, H.3098 (126th SC General Assembly, 2025-2026 session) — not enacted as of this review.
Primary source: read the official South Carolina statute text →
Frequently Asked Questions
Does adultery bar alimony in South Carolina?
Yes, absolutely, if the timing lines up. S.C. Code §20-3-130(A) bars alimony entirely to a spouse who committed adultery before the earlier of (1) the formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement, or (2) entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance/support or an order approving a settlement. This bar applies no matter how long the marriage lasted or how large the income gap is, and it covers every type of alimony — periodic, rehabilitative, lump-sum, and reimbursement.
Is there a South Carolina alimony formula?
Not under current law. South Carolina courts weigh the 13 factors in §20-3-130(C) with no set calculation. Bills H.3078, H.3074, and H.3098, pending in the 2025-2026 General Assembly session, would introduce a formula (reportedly 30-35% of the income difference) plus durational caps, but as of July 2026 none of these bills has passed — they are not law.
Can South Carolina alimony last for life?
Yes. South Carolina still permits true permanent periodic alimony under current law, alongside rehabilitative, reimbursement, separate maintenance, and lump-sum alimony. There is no statutory duration table — a judge sets the term case-by-case using the §20-3-130(C) factors.
What is South Carolina's marital-misconduct factor?
Factor 10 of §20-3-130(C) lets a judge weigh marital misconduct or fault by either spouse if it affected the parties' economic circumstances or contributed to the marriage breaking up — but only for conduct occurring before the same cutoff used in the adultery bar: the signing of a settlement agreement or entry of a permanent separate-maintenance order.
Are the pending South Carolina alimony reform bills law yet?
No. H.3078 and its companion bills H.3074 and H.3098 were introduced in January 2025 and remained in committee as of this writing in July 2026. They would relax the adultery bar in some circumstances and add a formula and durational caps, but until passed and signed, current law — the absolute adultery bar and the 13-factor discretionary test — controls.