The Supreme Court of South Carolina

RE: Family Court Forms

ORDER

Pursuant to the provisions of Article V, Section 4 of the South Carolina Constitution, the following family court forms, all bearing a revision date of (3/2019) are hereby amended effective March 31, 2019:

• SCCA425 Petition for Order of Protection
• SCCA426 Family Court Order – Protection from Domestic Abuse Act
• SCCA467 Family Court Coversheet

The Petition for Order of Protection (SCCA425) is amended to reflect terminology used to define a household or family member pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 20-4-20(b), to change terminology from "abuser" to "respondent" throughout, to change terminology from "petitioner" to "petitioner/victim" throughout, and to add animal welfare protective language.

The Family Court Order – Protection from Domestic Abuse (SCCA426) is amended to reflect terminology used to define a household or family member pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 20-4-20(b), to change terminology from "petitioner" to "petitioner/victim" throughout, to include reference to S.C. Code Ann. § 16-25-30 (A)(4) regarding firearm or ammunition possession, and to add animal welfare protective language.

The Family Court Coversheet (SCCA467) is amended to eliminate language regarding mandatory mediation in certain counties due to the expansion of statewide mediation and to reflect a new nature of action (NOA) code for Visitation Involvement Parenting cases. This NOA code is for Department of Social Services use only.

These forms are approved for use in family courts of South Carolina and previous versions are obsolete effective March 31, 2019.  These forms will be available on the South Carolina Judicial Branch website at http://www.sccourts.org/forms.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Columbia, South Carolina
March 13, 2019