SOUTH CAROLINA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the South Carolina Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE jurisdiction (first administered Feb 2017) · MBE 50% / MEE 30% / MPT 20% · minimum passing UBE score 266 · portable score (transfers to/from other UBE states) · the MEE/MPT are NCBE-drafted and graded on general/majority law unless a question expressly names South Carolina — so write general law on the UBE · the SC distinctions here matter for practice and any state-named question, not because SC drafts its own essays · MEE subjects beyond the MBE (business associations, family law, wills/trusts/estates, conflicts, secured transactions, etc.) are where many state distinctions live — budget study there · technique: apply the majority/national rule on the UBE; layer the South Carolina wrinkle only when a question names the state.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE & LIMITATIONS
South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure (modeled on the FRCP, more pleading formality) govern state court; the Courts of Common Pleas hear civil actions · SOL: 3 yrs (personal injury, negligence, most contracts) · 2 yrs (defamation) · med-mal = 3 yrs from act or discovery + statute of repose (generally ≈6 yrs) · discovery rule applies broadly (clock starts when plaintiff knew or should have known of injury and cause) · always do the limitations math on the page and name the SC period — examiners bury a timeliness trap inside a substantive tort or contract question · the short 2-yr defamation period and the malpractice discovery-plus-repose structure are the most-missed dates.
3. EVIDENCE
South Carolina Rules of Evidence (SCRE) mirror FRE numbering (Rule 401 relevance, 403 balancing, 802 hearsay) but FREEZE the late-1990s FRE text — the modern restyled/post-2011 FRE has moved on, so watch where federal law later changed · SC retained original FRE positions, notably on impeachment by prior conviction (Rule 609) · statutory PHYSICIAN-PATIENT privilege (federal common law recognizes none) · familiar privileges (attorney-client, spousal, clergy) set by SC statute and case law · default to your MBE evidence analysis and re-label it "SCRE," reserving distinction flags for Rule 609 and the statutory privileges.
4. FAMILY LAW
Divorce: 4 fault grounds (adultery, physical cruelty, habitual drunkenness/narcotics, 1-yr desertion) + ONE no-fault ground = living separate & apart 1 YEAR with no cohabitation (no "irreconcilable differences" shortcut) · ADULTERY BARS ALIMONY if committed before the earlier of a signed written settlement agreement or a permanent order of separate maintenance/property approval — signature SC rule · alimony forms: permanent periodic, lump-sum, rehabilitative, reimbursement, separate maintenance · common-law marriage ABOLISHED prospectively, Stone v. Thompson (2019) — marriages before July 24, 2019 may still be recognized, none created after · equitable distribution (not community property); marital fault may be a factor · EX: a spouse who has sexual relations before any settlement agreement is barred from alimony even if otherwise a strong candidate, and the same adultery is a fault ground for the other spouse.
5. WILLS, TRUSTS & ESTATES
SC Probate Code (UPC-based) · valid will = writing + testator signature (or by another at testator's direction in testator's presence) + 2 witnesses · NO domestic holographic wills (a heartfelt unw