Joe MackThe General Assembly has recently acted on two pieces of legislation related to marriage. I anticipated that one bill would pass. The other bill was a surprise.
The bill I expected to pass eliminated the practice of “common-law” marriage. South Carolina is one of the few states in the country that continues to allow this extension of cohabitation, a custom which causes far too many complications – moral and legitimate – if the partnership dissolves.
This bill has already been approved by the House and by the Senate Judiciary Committee, so it should earn the governor’s signature and become law. Reps. Phil Sinclair (Spartanburg) and Seth Whipper (Charleston) presented the challenge in the House, while Sen. William Mescher sponsored a similar bill across the hall.
The second bill regarding marriage is hidden under the title “Family Court Reform Act of 2006.” This bill damages the institution of marriage, in that it does not allow adultery to influence the outcome of divorce proceedings if the adultery occurred after the couple has separated but before a divorce is granted. Married is married, and adultery is adultery, until and if a divorce is granted.
The Family Court Reform Act also originally defined a short-term marriage as being fewer than 10 years. Sen. Chip Campsen (Charleston) and Sen. Vincent Sheheen (Kershaw) championed this bill in committee and on the Senate floor. Campsen called the short-term marriage concept “marriage lite” and said watering down alimony law was “a strike at our society’s most important institution.” As flawed as S. 1050 is, the Senate passed it over to the House.
Senator Campsen is right. Marriage is our society’s cornerstone. Our statutory law should not include same-sex marriage, common-law marriage, or “lite” marriage. It should penalize unfaithfulness in marriage. We are working hard on all these fronts, and, by God’s grace, we hope to report multiple victories by the time the 116th General Assembly goes home in May.