Determining the Best Interests of the Child - South Carolina

Date: September 2023

Guiding Principles

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 63-1-20(D); 63-1-30

For children in need of services, care, and guidance, the State shall secure those services as are needed to serve the emotional, mental, and physical welfare of children and the best interests of the community, preferably in their homes or the least restrictive environment possible. When children must be placed in care away from their homes, the State shall insure that they are protected against any harmful effects resulting from the temporary or permanent inability of parents to provide care and protection for their children. It is the policy of the State to reunite the child with their family in a timely manner, regardless of whether the child has been placed in the care of the State voluntarily. When children must be permanently removed from their homes, they shall be placed in adoptive homes so that they may become members of a family by legal adoption or, when adoption is not appropriate, in the legal guardianship of relatives or fictive kin to preserve family connections, or absent that possibility, other permanent settings. 

This article shall be liberally construed to the end that families whose unity or well-being is threatened shall be assisted, protected, and restored, if possible, as secure units of law-abiding members, and that each child coming within the jurisdiction of the court shall receive, preferably in their own home, the care, guidance, and control that is conducive to their welfare and best interests of the State, and that when they are removed from the control of their parents, the court shall secure for them care as nearly as possible equivalent to that which they should have given them. 

Best Interests Factors

Citation: Ann. Code § 63-15-240(B)

In issuing or modifying a custody order, the court must consider the best interests of the child, which may include, but is not limited to, the following:

  • The temperament and developmental needs of the child
  • The capacity and the disposition of the parents to understand and meet the needs of the child
  • The preferences of each child
  • The wishes of the parents as to custody
  • The past and current interaction and relationship of the child with each parent, the child's siblings, and any other person, including a grandparent, who may significantly affect the best interests of the child
  • The actions of each parent to encourage the continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent, as is appropriate, including compliance with court orders
  • The child's adjustment to their home, school, and community environments
  • The stability of the child's existing and proposed residences
  • The mental and physical health of all individuals involved
  • The child's cultural and spiritual background
  • Whether the child or a sibling of the child has been abused or neglected
  • Whether one parent has perpetrated domestic violence or child abuse or the effect on the child of the actions of an abuser if any domestic violence has occurred between the parents or between a parent and another individual or between the parent and the child
  • Whether one parent has relocated more than 100 miles from the child's primary residence in the past year, unless the parent relocated for safety reasons
  • Other factors as the court considers necessary

Other Considerations

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

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