The South Carolina military affidavit

How South Carolina handles it

South Carolina publishes no form whose subject is military service. In the Court of Common Pleas the statement is one clause inside SCCA 232, Affidavit of Default (Revised 11/2024). After reciting that more than thirty days have elapsed since service exclusive of the date of service, and that no Answer, Demurrer or Notice of Appearance has been served, the sentence continues: "and that the Defendant(s) is / are not a member of the military service; and the Defendant(s) is / are in default." You strike the wrong option in "is / are." That is the entire military content of the form.

What is missing matters more than what is there. SCCA 232 has no facts field, no place to attach a Department of Defense status report, and no unable to determine option. Section 3931(b)(1)(A) asks for "necessary facts to support the affidavit," and prong (B) exists for the plaintiff who genuinely cannot tell. Neither fits in the printed form, so both have to travel as a supplemental affidavit filed alongside it. The form also recites that the affiant "is the Attorney for the Plaintiff(s)," which puts the sworn military statement on counsel rather than the client.

Magistrate's court is a separate world. SCCA 717, Affidavit of Default, is the magistrate version and contains no military language at all: it swears only to service, the thirty-day answer period, and the failure to appear. SCCA 721 is the Notice of Default Judgment the magistrate signs. Rule 24 of the magistrate court rules lists every recommended form the court must make available free of charge to litigants, and there is an Affidavit of Default on that list but no military affidavit. In a small money case in South Carolina, the section 3931 statement is something you have to bring yourself.

Family court has its own. SCCA 400.07 SRL-DIV, Affidavit of Default for Divorce (One Year Continuous Separation), dated 5/2013, walks through the four permitted service methods and then makes four sworn statements. The third is the military one, and it is phrased with a waiver alternative: "Defendant is either not in active military service of the United States or has waived his/her rights under the Uniformed Service Members Civil Relief Act."

One structural feature changes the timing of every South Carolina default. Under Rule 55(a), SCRCP, the clerk enters the default on the calendar, but the judgment is a judge's act even for a liquidated sum: Rule 55(b)(1) sends the application to a judge on affidavit of the amount due. The drafting note explains that the federal provision letting a clerk enter judgment on a sum certain "was deleted." Rule 55(e) goes further and bars any default judgment in a divorce or annulment, against a minor or incompetent, or where service was by publication with no later appearance, unless the claimant establishes the claim by evidence satisfactory to the court.

What trips filers up here

• There is no unable to determine box anywhere in the South Carolina set. A plaintiff who cannot rule out military service has to draft a separate affidavit rather than check something.
• The military clause on SCCA 232 has no facts blank, so the "necessary facts" the federal statute requires can only arrive as an attachment.
• The magistrate court default affidavit, SCCA 717, says nothing about the military. Filers who assume the state form covers the federal requirement file an incomplete record.
• The family court form's waiver option is not a general escape hatch. A waiver has to meet the federal writing and timing rules, not a clause buried in a contract signed before service.

Signing it: notarization required

The form has two signature layers. The affiant signs the recitation as Plaintiff or Attorney for Plaintiff, then signs again under "I swear or affirm that I know the facts above to be true. I believe anything above that is stated on information and belief to be true." A notary completes a jurat with a printed name and commission expiration date. There is no unsworn declaration option.

This form carries a notary block, so budget for a notary before your filing date. Federal law sets a floor, not a ceiling: 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) permits an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, but a state is free to require more on its own form, and this one does.

South Carolina law on top of the federal rule

S.C. Code Ann. § 25-1-4010 et seq.: The South Carolina Servicemembers Civil Relief Act expands the federal protections and makes a federal violation a violation of state law. Section 25-1-4030 extends military service to National Guard members on state active duty over thirty consecutive days, and Section 25-1-4040 conditions the state remedies for those categories on the servicemember giving the other party a written or electronic copy of the order.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in South Carolina and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: South Carolina SCRA benefits.