Terms Used In South Carolina Code 63-15-520

  • Adult: means an individual who is at least eighteen years of age or an emancipated minor. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Child: means :

    (a) an unemancipated individual who has not attained eighteen years of age; or

    (b) an adult son or daughter by birth or adoption or under the law of this State, other than this article, who is the subject of an existing court order concerning custodial responsibility. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Court: means an entity authorized under the law of this State, other than this article, to establish, enforce, or modify a decision regarding custodial responsibility. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Custodial responsibility: is a comprehensive term that includes any and all powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decision-making authority for a child. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Deploying parent: means a service member, who is deployed or has been notified of impending deployment, and is:

    (a) a parent of a child under the law of this State other than this article; or

    (b) an individual other than a parent who has custodial responsibility of a child under the law of this State other than this article;

    (9) "Deployment" means the movement or mobilization of a service member to a location for more than ninety days but fewer than eighteen months pursuant to an official order that:

    (a) is designated as unaccompanied;

    (b) does not authorize dependent travel; or

    (c) otherwise does not permit the movement of family members to that location. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Nonparent: means an individual other than a deploying parent or other parent. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Other parent: means an individual who, in common with a deploying parent, is:

    (a) the parent of a child under the law of this State other than this article; or

    (b) an individual other than a parent with custodial responsibility of a child under the law of this State other than this article. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
  • Parent: means biological parent, adoptive parents, step-parent, or person with legal custody. See South Carolina Code 63-1-40
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See South Carolina Code 63-15-502
If no other parent possesses custodial responsibility under the law of this State, other than this article, or if an existing court order prohibits contact between the child and the other parent, a deploying parent, by power of attorney, may delegate all or part of his or her custodial responsibility to an adult nonparent for the period of deployment. The power of attorney is revocable by the deploying parent through a revocation of the power of attorney signed by the deploying parent.