- —A temporary hearing decides who lives where, who pays what, and what the schedule is while the case is pending.
- —It is decided almost entirely on written affidavits, not live testimony, and the page limits are strict.
Your first hearing is coming and you have been told it will be short. That is true, and it is the most disorienting thing about it. Months of anxiety are resolved, at least for now, in a proceeding that may last fifteen minutes and in which you will probably not say a word.
The rules described here come from Rule 21 of the South Carolina Rules of Family Court, which was substantially rewritten and applies to any request for a temporary hearing submitted on or after 1 October 2025.
Getting the hearing scheduled
Temporary relief starts with a written motion, filed and properly served, that must “state with specificity the issues raised and the relief sought.” Vagueness at this stage costs you later — the motion frames what the judge can address.
To get a date, the moving party files or submits a request for hearing with the Clerk of Court, identifying how much time is being requested and any known counsel of record. The date then falls inside a window: not sooner than twenty-one days and not later than forty-five days from the date the request is filed.
That window is worth understanding if you are in a hurry. Three weeks is the floor. If your situation cannot wait three weeks, a temporary hearing is not the tool — see the section on emergencies below.
The deadlines, in order
At least twenty days before the hearing: the moving party serves the motion and notice of the date and time.
No later than ten days before: the responding party serves and files a return, and any request for affirmative relief, stating with specificity any new or additional issues and the relief they want.
No later than five days before: all written evidence, including supporting documents, is served and filed.
At the hearing: either party may serve and file reply affidavits responding to the other side's evidence, plus additional detail supporting a request for attorney's fees and costs.
The five-day deadline is the one that surprises people. Evidence is not something you hand up on the day. By the time everyone walks into the courtroom, the judge's file is essentially closed.
It is decided on paper
This is the feature that most confounds first-timers. Rule 21 provides that evidence received at a temporary hearing “shall be confined to affidavits, financial declarations, and any other documents which are statutorily-required (such as a parenting plan).”
There is a safety valve: for good cause, in the discretion of the judge conducting the hearing, additional evidence or testimony may be permitted or required. But the default is paper. You will likely not testify. Your witnesses will not testify. Their accounts arrive as sworn affidavits or they do not arrive at all.
All of it must still comply with the South Carolina Rules of Evidence.
The page limits are real
Rule 21 caps the volume of evidence by reference to the length of the hearing:
Fifteen-minute hearing: each party is limited to ten pages of affidavits.
Thirty-minute hearing: each party is limited to twenty pages of affidavits.
More than thirty minutes: the requesting party must explain why the additional time is needed and include any request to exceed the page limits. The chief judge for administrative purposes must approve the time and, if approved, sets any applicable page limit.
Two carve-outs make the limits more workable than they first appear. Proposed parenting plans, financial declarations and attorneys' fees affidavits do not count toward the page limit. And exhibits attached to affidavits are capped separately at thirty pages per party, which also do not count toward the affidavit limit.
If a document is referenced but not attached, it must be served with the affidavit on the opposing party and be available in the courtroom at the hearing.
The practical consequence is that a temporary hearing is an exercise in compression. Ten pages is not much room to describe a marriage. What goes in those pages, and what is left out, is most of the work.
Financial declarations are their own subject and their own form. Our post on South Carolina financial declaration requirements covers what Rule 20 requires.
If you cannot wait three weeks
Rule 21 has a separate provision for genuine emergencies. The family court may order ex parte temporary relief “to protect the health, safety, or welfare of a child, and/or to avoid irreparable harm.” A party seeking it must follow the protocol and requirements for temporary restraining orders in Rule 65 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.
That is a demanding standard and a different process, not a faster version of the same one.
Separately, the rule gives the family court discretion, for good cause, on its own motion or on a party's motion, to modify the scheduling, notice and time requirements Rule 21 imposes. A motion asking for that must be supported by relevant affidavits.
What a temporary order does and does not do
A temporary order governs the period while the case is pending. It sets the schedule, the support, and often who stays in the house. It is not the final word, and it is not a prediction of the final word.
It is also not nothing. Temporary arrangements have a way of becoming the status quo, and the stability of a child's existing arrangement is one of the things a court weighs later. That is why a hearing that lasts fifteen minutes deserves preparation measured in days.
If custody is disputed, the judge may also appoint a guardian ad litem to investigate on the children’s behalf. Our post on what a guardian ad litem does in a South Carolina custody case explains that role.
How to prepare
Start early. Working backwards from the hearing, your evidence is due five days before, which is sooner than most people plan for.
Write to the page limit, not to the grievance. Ten pages spent on the last five years is ten pages not spent on the next five months.
Get your affidavits sworn properly and in time. An unsworn statement is not evidence.
Attach the documents that matter and keep the referenced ones to hand — the rule requires them to be available in the courtroom.
Ask for something specific. A judge with fifteen minutes and a defined request can grant it; a general complaint gives them nothing to order.
Frequently asked questions
Will I testify at my temporary hearing?
Probably not. Rule 21 confines the evidence to affidavits, financial declarations and statutorily-required documents. The judge may allow or require additional evidence or testimony for good cause, but that is the exception.
How soon can I get a temporary hearing?
Not sooner than twenty-one days from the date the request for hearing is filed with the Clerk, and not later than forty-five days.
How many pages can I file?
Ten pages of affidavits for a fifteen-minute hearing, twenty for a thirty-minute hearing. Beyond thirty minutes, the chief judge for administrative purposes must approve both the time and any page limit. Parenting plans, financial declarations and fee affidavits are excluded from the count, and exhibits are capped separately at thirty pages.
What if my situation is an emergency?
Rule 21 allows ex parte temporary relief to protect the health, safety or welfare of a child or to avoid irreparable harm, following the temporary restraining order requirements of Rule 65, SCRCP. It is a separate and demanding route.
Is the temporary order permanent?
No. It governs while the case is pending. But temporary arrangements often become the status quo, so it matters more than its name suggests.
Talk to a Charleston family law attorney
A temporary hearing is short, decided on paper, and largely won before anyone reaches the courthouse. 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.
Suzanne Lafleur Klok, Esq. is a family law attorney in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Klok Law Firm, LLC · (843) 701-1695 · sklok@kloklaw.com