S.C. Court of appeals holds that trial judge is not required to impose sanctions with a contempt finding

In Lukich v. Lukich, a family court matter, Wife argued that although the family court ruled Husband was "technically in contempt for failure to make support payments as ordered," the ruling was tantamount to finding Husband was not in contempt because the court did not require Husband to comply with the temporary order pending the outcome of his motion to vacate that order and because no sanctions were imposed.

The Court of Appeals rejected the argument of Wife, holding that the family court properly declined to impose sanctions against Husband because the validity of his alimony obligation was in question and Husband had a pending motion to vacate the alimony award. The Court of Appeals concluded that

"Because there is no requirement that sanctions be imposed upon the finding of contempt, we find no abuse of discretion in the family court's ruling. "