Most people walk into a divorce thinking alimony is one thing: a monthly amount, paid for a long time. South Carolina law is more precise than that. There are five named types of alimony in South Carolina, and the one a court picks decides whether the payments ever end, whether they can be changed later, and what happens if either spouse remarries.
Short answer: S.C. Code § 20-3-130(B) names periodic, lump-sum, rehabilitative, reimbursement, and separate maintenance and support — plus a catch-all allowing any other form the court considers just. Only periodic and separate maintenance are freely modifiable when circumstances change.
Before going through the five, one thing shapes everything that follows: they are not a menu of equals. Permanent periodic alimony is the favoured form in South Carolina, and a court that wants to award something else has to justify it. In Jenkins v. Jenkins, 345 S.C. 88, 545 S.E.2d 531 (Ct. App. 2001), the Court of Appeals set both halves out: “permanent periodic alimony is favored in South Carolina,” and “[i]f a claim for alimony is well-founded, the law favors the award of permanent periodic alimony.”
The consequence is a burden. As Jenkins put it, rehabilitative alimony “may be awarded only upon a showing of special circumstances justifying a departure from the normal preference for permanent periodic support,” and should be approved “only in exceptional circumstances.” The Court held the rehabilitative award in that case was improper. So if you are being offered a fixed-term form, the question to ask is what the special circumstances are said to be.
Periodic alimony
This is what most people picture. Under § 20-3-130(B)(1), periodic alimony terminates on the remarriage or continued cohabitation of the supported spouse, or on the death of either spouse, and it is “terminable and modifiable based upon changed circumstances occurring in the future.”
The statute describes its purpose as ongoing support that is meant to be reviewed and revised as circumstances dictate. It is the right tool for a long marriage where one spouse's earning capacity will not realistically catch up, and it is the form courts favour when the future is genuinely uncertain.
Our post on when South Carolina courts favour periodic over rehabilitative support walks through how that choice is made.
Lump-sum alimony
Section 20-3-130(B)(2) defines lump-sum alimony as a finite total sum, paid in one installment or periodically over time, “terminating only upon the death of the supported spouse, but not terminable or modifiable based upon remarriage or changed circumstances in the future.”
Notice what that excludes. Remarriage does not end it. A job loss does not reduce it. It is a fixed obligation, and its appeal is certainty — for the payor who wants a known number and for the recipient who does not want the award revisited every few years.
Rehabilitative alimony
Section 20-3-130(B)(3) provides for rehabilitative alimony in a finite sum, terminable on remarriage or continued cohabitation, on the death of either spouse, or on the occurrence of a specific future event.
It is modifiable, but on narrower grounds than periodic alimony: “based upon unforeseen events frustrating the good faith efforts of the supported spouse to become self-supporting or the ability of the supporting spouse to pay.” The statute contemplates ending dates tied to events such as completing job training or education, and it expects rehabilitative effort from the supported spouse.
This is the award for the spouse who stepped back from a career and can return to one with a defined runway — a nursing credential to renew, a degree to finish.
Reimbursement alimony
The least familiar of the five. Under § 20-3-130(B)(4), reimbursement alimony is a finite sum, terminable on remarriage or continued cohabitation or on death, but “not terminable or modifiable based upon changed circumstances in the future.”
Its purpose is to reimburse the supported spouse “from the future earnings of the payor spouse based upon circumstances or events that occurred during the marriage.” The classic case is the spouse who worked while the other earned a professional degree — the value was created during the marriage and is realised after it.
Separate maintenance and support
The fifth form applies when nobody is asking for a divorce. Section 20-3-130(B)(5) describes support paid periodically, terminating on the supported spouse's continued cohabitation, on the divorce of the parties, or on the death of either spouse, and modifiable on changed circumstances.
The statute is explicit about when it fits: circumstances “where a divorce is not sought, but it is necessary to provide for support of the supported spouse by way of separate maintenance and support when the parties are living separate and apart.”
There is also a sixth, open category. Subsection (B)(6) permits any other form of spousal support the court considers just, and expressly allows more than one form to be granted.
What “continued cohabitation” actually means
Several of these forms end on the supported spouse's continued cohabitation, so the definition carries real money. The statute supplies one: unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, continued cohabitation means “the supported spouse resides with another person in a romantic relationship for a period of ninety or more consecutive days.”
There is an anti-avoidance clause too. A court may find continued cohabitation where the residence periods run less than ninety days and “the two periodically separate in order to circumvent the ninety-day requirement.”
Do not read that as an easy route, though. The Supreme Court has construed the main requirement strictly. In Strickland v. Strickland, 375 S.C. 76, 650 S.E.2d 465 (2007), a husband argued his ex-wife had cohabited continuously for seven years and so had lost her alimony. The Court disagreed, holding that the phrase “resides with” in § 20-3-150 “sets forth a requirement that the supported spouse live under the same roof as the person with whom they are romantically involved for at least ninety consecutive days.”
A long-standing romantic relationship, on its own, is not the test. Living under one roof for ninety consecutive days is, and the anti-avoidance clause bites only where the separations are shown to be for the purpose of getting round it. That is a demanding thing to prove, and it is why terminating alimony on this ground is harder than the statute first appears.
Adultery can bar alimony entirely
Before any of the five is reached, § 20-3-130(A) imposes a bar: no alimony may be awarded to a spouse who commits adultery before the earliest of two events — the formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement, or entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance and support or of a permanent order approving such an agreement.
The timing is the whole point. Conduct after that cutoff does not trigger the bar; conduct before it does.
Our post on how adultery affects spousal support in South Carolina covers how the bar is applied in practice.
How a court chooses
Section 20-3-130(C) requires the court to consider and weigh thirteen factors, among them the duration of the marriage and the parties' ages, the physical and emotional condition of each spouse, educational background and the need for further training, employment history and earning potential, the standard of living established during the marriage, current and anticipated earnings, current and anticipated expenses and needs, the marital and nonmarital property of each, and custody of the children.
One of the thirteen deserves separate mention, because a reader who has just read about the adultery bar may assume conduct stops mattering once that bar is out of the picture. It does not. Factor (10) is marital misconduct or fault, whether or not it was used as a ground for the divorce, but only if the misconduct “affects or has affected the economic circumstances of the parties, or contributed to the breakup of the marriage.” The statute then shuts the door on later conduct: no evidence of personal conduct counts under this factor if it took place after the earlier of the formal signing of a written property or marital settlement agreement, or the entry of a permanent order of separate maintenance and support or of a permanent order approving such an agreement.
Worth keeping straight from the property side of the case. The equivalent factor for dividing property and debt, § 20-3-620(B)(2), carries a THIRD cut-off event that the alimony provision does not: entry of a pendente lite order. So conduct after a temporary order can still count against a spouse on alimony while being excluded from the property division.
No factor controls. The list is why two marriages of the same length can produce very different awards, and why the form of alimony is argued as hard as the amount.
If an award is already in place and you are wondering whether it can be revisited, see our post on whether nonmodifiable alimony in South Carolina can ever be changed.
Frequently asked questions
Which type of alimony can be changed later?
Periodic alimony and separate maintenance and support are modifiable on changed circumstances. Rehabilitative alimony is modifiable on narrower statutory grounds. Lump-sum and reimbursement alimony are not modifiable based on changed circumstances.
Does remarriage end alimony in South Carolina?
It depends on the form. Remarriage terminates periodic, rehabilitative, and reimbursement alimony. It does not terminate lump-sum alimony, which under § 20-3-130(B)(2) ends only on the death of the supported spouse.
Can I receive more than one type?
Yes. Section 20-3-130(B)(6) expressly allows the court to grant more than one form of support.
How long does my spouse have to live with someone before alimony ends?
Ninety consecutive days in a romantic relationship, unless you agreed otherwise in writing. A court can also find cohabitation where shorter periods are being used to game the ninety-day line.
Talk to a Charleston family law attorney
The difference between periodic and lump-sum alimony can be the difference between an obligation that follows you for years and one with a known end. Klok Law Firm handles South Carolina family law in Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties. Call Klok Law at (843) 701-1695 to discuss your options.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, contact Klok Law at (843) 701-1695.