Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.2468 Ratification Number:336 Act Number:307 Introducing Body:House Subject:Relating to care and support in domestic relations matters (the South Carolina Children's Code)
(A307, R336, H2468)
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 7 OF TITLE 20, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CARE AND SUPPORT IN DOMESTIC RELATIONS MATTERS (THE SOUTH CAROLINA CHILDREN'S CODE), BY ADDING SUBARTICLE 4 TO ARTICLE 9, SO AS TO PROVIDE A PROCEDURE TO AID IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE PATERNITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL; TO AMEND THE 1976 CODE BY RENUMBERING SECTION 20-7-940 AS SECTION 20-7-932 AND SECTION 20-7-950 AS SECTION 20-7-934 AND BY RENUMBERING THESE SECTIONS IN THE SAME MANNER ANY OTHER PLACE THESE SECTIONS ARE REFERENCED IN THE CODE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-420, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE FAMILY COURT IN DOMESTIC MATTERS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE FAMILY COURT SHALL HAVE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION TO HEAR AND DETERMINE ACTIONS REGARDING THE PATERNITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND TO PROVIDE WHERE ACTIONS OF THIS NATURE MAY BE BROUGHT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Determination of paternity
SECTION l. Chapter 7 of Title 20 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding Subarticle 4 to Article 9 as follows:
"SUBARTICLE 4
Determination of Paternity
Section 20-7-952. A. The purpose of this subarticle is to establish a procedure to aid in the determination of the paternity of an individual.
B. As used in this subarticle, 'child' includes, but is not limited to, a person under the age of eighteen years.
C. An action to establish the paternity of an individual may be brought by
(1) A child;
(2) The natural mother of a child;
(3) Any person in whose care a child has been placed;
(4) An authorized agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of Social Services, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 5 of Title 43, and any other person or agency pursuant to the provisions of Sections 20-7-435 and 20-7-840; or
(5) A person who claims to be the father of a child.
D. If an action is brought under this subarticle prior to the birth of a child, all proceedings must be stayed until after the birth of the child except the service of a summons and the taking of depositions or other discovery procedures.
E. Whenever an action threatens to make a child illegitimate, the presumed legal father and the putative natural father must be made parties respondents to the action. A child under the age of eighteen years must be represented by a guardian ad litem appointed by the court. Neither the mother nor the presumed or putative father of the child may represent him as guardian ad litem.
Section 20-7-953. A. Any person who has sexual intercourse in this State thereby submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this State as to an action brought under this subarticle with respect to a child who may have been conceived by that act of intercourse. In addition to any other method provided by law, personal jurisdiction may be acquired by service of process outside this State in the manner authorized by the provisions of Section 36-2-806.
B. Unless the court orders otherwise, the custody of an illegitimate child is solely in the natural mother unless the mother has relinquished her rights to the child. If paternity has been acknowledged or adjudicated, the father may petition the court for rights of visitation or custody in a proceeding before the court apart from an action to establish paternity.
C. All actions commenced under this subarticle must be dealt with as separate proceedings before the court without a jury. The general public is to be excluded from these proceedings and only those persons whom the judge finds to have a direct interest in the proceeding or in assisting the court in its work are to be permitted to attend.
D. Any proceeding commenced under this subarticle is a civil action. The natural mother of the child and the alleged father are competent to testify and may be compelled by the court to appear and give testimony.
Section 20-7-954. As soon as practicable after an action has been commenced, the court, upon its motion or that of any other interested party, may order the natural mother, the putative father, and the child to submit to genetic tests such as red blood cell antigen testing, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing, electrophoresis, or other tests which have been developed for the purpose of proving or disproving parentage and which are reasonably accessible. If the court orders any of these tests, and if the action is commenced prior to the birth of the child, the court shall also order that the tests be made as soon as medically feasible after the birth of the child. The tests must be performed under the supervision of a qualified expert. In all cases the court must determine the number and the qualifications of experts, except that the parties may submit for the court's approval a written stipulation regarding experts and facilities to be used for testing. The costs of any tests not disposed of by written stipulation must be paid by the parties as ordered by the court; provided, that in any action initiated pursuant to Section 43-5-220 where the court determines that the respondent is indigent, the court may order that these costs shall be borne by the petitioner. When the State of South Carolina is the petitioner and the respondent is indigent and the court orders the petitioner to pay these costs, they shall be paid from amounts collected under the Child Support Enforcement Program (Title IV D). Any order issued under this subarticle is enforceable by contempt.
Section 20-7-955. A. The court must encourage settlements and voluntary agreements and must examine and approve them whenever they are warranted. Upon a finding of fairness the court may approve, without a hearing, settlements and voluntary agreements which are reduced to writing, signed by the parties, and properly verified. The agreement must be accompanied by financial declarations and affidavits from the parties stating that they have read, or have had read to them, and understand the agreement and that they have voluntarily executed the agreement or consent order. The parties may submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the court by a settlement or voluntary agreement without the necessity of filing a written petition or service of process. A respondent's affidavit must state that he is capable of fulfilling any financial requirements of the agreement or consent order applicable to him. Upon the court's approval, the settlement or voluntary agreement shall become an order of the court.
B. In actions commenced by the Department of Social Services or any other authorized agency, any employee of such agency or of the Attorney General's Office who is familiar with the action may make, on behalf of the petitioner, the required affidavit accompanying a settlement, voluntary agreement, or consent order. In cases where the child is the recipient of public assistance, the affidavit must state:
(1) That the employee is familiar with the particular case involved.
(2) That he has reviewed the case.
(3) That he knows or believes that the Department of Social Services, in furtherance of state and federal policies and regulations, has determined the child involved to be destitute and in need of public assistance due in part to inadequate support from the respondent.
(4) That the child is presently the recipient of some type of public assistance in order to maintain a subsistent standard of living.
Section 20-7-956. The following evidence is admissible at a hearing to determine paternity:
(1) Results of genetic tests as described in Section 20-7-954 from physicians, agencies, hospitals, laboratories, or other qualified testing facilities. This evidence, if properly verified to show the chain of custody of blood specimens, shall be introduced without the presence of supporting witnesses unless a challenge has been asserted by motion at least twenty days prior to the date of trial. Any party to the action, absent stipulations to the contrary, may demand the right to have additional testing conducted at the expense of the party who demands the additional testing.
(2) The refusal of a party to submit to a genetic or other ordered test as to the credibility of a party.
(3) Test results which show a statistical probability of paternity. These test results must be weighed along with other evidence of the putative father's paternity.
(4) An expert's opinion concerning the time of conception. This evidence is admissible in the same manner as other expert testimony. The court may take judicial notice of the normal period of gestation.
(5) The testimony of a husband and wife as to any relevant matter, including marriage and parentage.
(6) Any other relevant and competent evidence deemed admissible in the discretion of the court.
Upon the motion of any party to the action or upon its own motion, the court may view a child for the purpose of examining the presence or the absence of physical characteristics and similarities between the child and the putative father.
If a male witness offers testimony indicating that his act of intercourse with the natural mother may have resulted in the conception of the child, the court may require the witness to submit to genetic or other tests to determine whether he is the child's father. If the results of the tests exclude or tend to exclude the witness as the father of the child, the witness's testimony must be stricken from the record and disregarded.
Section 20-7-957. Upon a finding that the putative father is the natural father of the child, the court must issue an order designating the putative father as the natural father. The order may establish a duty of support and provide for child support payments in amounts and at a frequency to be determined by the court. The order may also provide for other relief which has been properly prayed for in the pleadings and which is deemed reasonable and just by the court.
Upon a finding that the putative father is not the father of the child, the court must issue an order which sets forth this finding."
Sections renumbered
SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by renumbering Section 20-7-940 as Section 20-7-932 and renumbering Section 20-7-950 as Section 20-7-934 and by renumbering these sections in the same manner wherever they may be otherwise referenced in the Code.
Where action must be brought
SECTION 3. Item (7) of Section 20-7-420 of the 1976 Code, as last amended in Act 71 of 1981, is further amended to read:
"(7) To hear and determine actions to determine the paternity of an individual. The action may be brought in the county in which the child or the alleged father resides, or is found, or, if the father is deceased, in the county in which proceedings for probate of his estate have been or could be commenced."
Time effective
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon approval by the Governor.