Warner Law: Practice Areas, Fees and Process

What is Warner Law?

Warner Law is a family law practice in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. Its site describes it as "a family law firm based in Columbia, serving South Carolina" and as "a progressive firm with a focus on protecting and advocating for our clients' best interests, while proactively working to minimize the emotional and financial toll that family law cases often bring."

The firm carries the name of its owner, attorney Carrie Warner. Older posts and some page titles use the name "Carrie Warner Attorney at Law"; the current pages and the attorney's own profile use "Warner Law." Both refer to the same practice at the same phone number.

Most of its work is family court work: divorce, custody, support, alimony and property division. It also takes on a set of related matters that often sit next to a divorce or a death in the family: prenuptial agreements, adoptions, wills and powers of attorney, and lawsuits over estates and trusts. The site lists ten practice areas in its main menu, and each has a long guide page explaining South Carolina law on that subject.

The firm describes its values on its "Who We Are" page under the heading "Passionate. Practical. Prepared.": compassion, treating clients as partners, keeping good working relationships with other lawyers, judges, mediators and guardians ad litem, integrity, ongoing education and accountability.

Who owns and runs Warner Law?

The site's attorney profile names Carrie A. Warner as "the owner and managing member at Warner Law." She is the only attorney the site profiles. A few guide pages refer to "our team" and to staff without naming them, so if it matters to you who will handle the day-to-day work on your file, ask at the consultation.

Background, as the firm describes it. Carrie Warner's father, the late Jan Warner, was a South Carolina family law attorney and nationally syndicated author. She says she practiced with him for five years after law school, until his death in 2009, and that she was handling "complex cases, clients, and trial work right out of law school." A 2015 post on the site announces that she entered private practice in Columbia that year and launched carriewarner.com. The site says she has practiced for over 20 years (the profile says "over 21 years") and has represented clients in "over 1,000 family law matters."

Education (as listed): Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of South Carolina; Juris Doctor, University of South Carolina School of Law. The 2015 post gives 2004 as her law school graduation year.

Bar admissions (as listed): State of South Carolina, District of Columbia, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court.

Memberships (as listed): American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), American Bar Association, Richland County Bar Association and Lexington County Bar Association. A 2020 post on the site says she was named a Fellow of the AAML, and describes AAML fellowship as requiring "examinations, interviews, and judicial and professional evaluations."

Recognitions the site lists: Doyle's Guide 2026, Recommended tier, Leading South Carolina Family, Matrimonial & Divorce Lawyers; 2026 South Carolina Legal Elite; South Carolina Lawyers Weekly Leadership in Law Honoree (2020); National Trial Lawyers Top 100 and Top 30 Matrimonial and Family Law; National Advocates Top 100 Matrimonial and Family Lawyers; Legal Elite for the Midlands; Elite Lawyer; National Association of Distinguished Counsel; Fellow, American Bar Foundation; and Who's Who in America. These are the firm's own listings; we have not checked each one with the organization that gave it.

Service and teaching (as listed): SC Bar Association Practice and Procedure Committee, AAML Mentorship Committee, and instructor for the SC Bar Association Family Law Trial Intensive. Speaking engagements listed include South Carolina Bar programs in 2014 and 2021 and Family Court Bench Bar programs in December 2016 and December 2025. She is credited with a March 2014 South Carolina Lawyer article on preventing the financial exploitation of elderly clients.

Her profile says she enjoys working out, traveling with her family and watching football.

Is Warner Law legit? What can be checked

People often ask this before paying a consultation fee. Here is what an outside reader can confirm:

• A real office and phone. The site lists a street address, 1405 Calhoun Street, Columbia, SC 29201, and the phone number (803) 692-1072 on every page.
• An AAML directory listing. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers' public directory lists Carrie Warner of Warner Law at the same Calhoun Street address and phone number, with a 2004 University of South Carolina law degree and bar admissions in South Carolina (2004) and the District of Columbia (2006). We checked it on 19 October 2026.
• A public federal court record. The site lists Bradacs v. Haley (U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, 2014) among her representative cases. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse case record names Carrie Warner among counsel for the plaintiffs, a married same-sex couple who challenged South Carolina's refusal to recognize their marriage. The record shows the plaintiffs won summary judgment on their equal protection and due process claims.
• Published appellate cases. The profile lists South Carolina appellate decisions by citation (for example Simpson v. Simpson, Lewis v. Lewis, Jennings v. Jennings, Register v. Dixon and Scherba v. Scherba). Anyone can look those up in public court databases.
• Clear written terms. The site states its consultation fee, how its intake works, and when the attorney-client relationship starts.
• Client testimonials. The home page shows quotes from clients identified by first name and last initial. The site does not publish a review score or count.

To confirm any South Carolina lawyer's license and discipline history, use the South Carolina Bar's member directory or the South Carolina Judicial Branch. Past cases describe what a lawyer has done; they do not predict how a new case will go.

What cases does Warner Law handle?

The site's main menu lists ten practice areas. Each one links to a long guide page.

On her "Who We Are" page, Carrie Warner says she welcomes complex and highly contested cases, naming custody disputes with complex issues, high-asset cases with novel financial questions, and cases involving sexual abuse.

Divorce

The firm's divorce page is a long guide to South Carolina divorce. It explains the residency rules, the five grounds the state recognizes (one year of continuous separation, adultery, physical cruelty, habitual drunkenness or drug use, and desertion), the difference between contested and uncontested cases, and the steps of a case: consultation, filing a complaint, service, response and discovery, negotiation and mediation, temporary hearings, final hearing, and the final decree.

How long it may take, according to the firm's guide. The guide gives these general ranges: about 3 to 4 months after filing for an uncontested no-fault divorce (which first requires a year of separation), 2 to 4 months for an uncontested fault-based divorce, and 6 months to 2 or more years for a contested divorce. It names court schedules in Richland and Lexington counties as one factor that can add time. These are general estimates, not a promise about any one case.

Special situations the firm writes about:

• High-asset divorce. The site says it represents executives, physicians, business owners and other high-income clients, and works with forensic accountants and financial investigators on tracing and valuing assets.
• Military divorce. A page aimed at Fort Jackson families covers federal rules that apply to service members, such as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and the division of military retirement.
• Business ownership, retirement accounts and hidden assets. The property pages cover marital versus separate property, business valuation, the family home, inheritance and dividing retirement accounts with a QDRO.
• Digital assets and social media. Separate pages cover cryptocurrency in divorce and how social media posts can affect a case.

The firm's own position on settlement, from Carrie Warner's page: she believes "every effort should be made to settle family disputes," because it lowers cost and keeps decisions with the parties, but she says she will not encourage a settlement that is not in the client's interest and is prepared to go to trial.

Custody, child support and alimony

Custody and visitation. The custody guide explains legal and physical custody, sole and joint custody, and visitation, and walks through how custody is decided: by agreement, through mediation, or at trial. It describes the "best interest of the child" standard and the role of a guardian ad litem, a person the court appoints to investigate and report on what is best for the children. Related pages cover parenting plans, relocation, emergency custody orders, unmarried fathers' rights, grandparent visitation and how substance abuse can affect custody.

Child support. The firm's FAQ explains that South Carolina support is based on each parent's gross monthly income, health insurance costs for the children and childcare costs, entered into the state's Child Support Guidelines calculator, and that the number of overnights with each parent also affects the figure. The child support guide adds pages on self-employed parents, imputed income, college expenses, modification and enforcement.

Alimony. The alimony guide describes four types the firm discusses under South Carolina law (periodic, lump-sum, rehabilitative and reimbursement), temporary versus permanent support, how cohabitation can end alimony, and taxes. The firm's FAQ notes that the amount and length of alimony are left to the judge, who weighs factors such as the length of the marriage, the difference in incomes and the needs of the supported spouse. The firm says it helps clients seek alimony, change the amount, or end it.

Prenups, postnups and cohabitation agreements

Warner Law drafts and reviews prenuptial agreements (signed before marriage) and postnuptial agreements (signed after). Its prenup guide lays out the steps the firm follows:

1. Start the conversation early. The guide suggests at least 60 to 90 days before the wedding.
2. Full financial disclosure by both people.
3. Each person has their own lawyer. The firm says it represents one party and will encourage the other to hire separate counsel.
4. Draft the agreement around the couple's goals and disclosures.
5. Review, negotiate and revise.
6. Sign the agreement.
7. Store it safely.

Topics it says a prenup can cover include property, debts, spousal support, business interests and inheritance. Separate pages discuss prenups for business owners and for second marriages.

For unmarried couples who live together, the site has a cohabitation agreement page. It describes these as contracts setting out how property and finances would be divided if the couple separates, with the option of resolving disputes privately through arbitration or mediation.

Adoptions and LGBTQ families

Adoptions. The adoption guide covers who can adopt in South Carolina and the main adoption types: stepparent, private (independent), agency, foster care, interstate and international, and adult adoption. It describes a six-step process (choosing a path, home study, consent or termination of parental rights, filing the petition, a placement period, and the final hearing and decree) and explains that petitions in the Columbia area are usually filed in Richland County or Lexington County Family Court. One client testimonial on the home page describes a family adoption the firm handled.

LGBTQ families. This is a long-standing part of the practice. The site says Carrie Warner worked with LGBTQ clients on custody orders, powers of attorney and wills before same-sex couples could marry in South Carolina, and was co-counsel in the 2014 federal case that challenged the state's refusal to recognize marriages performed in other states (see what can be checked). Today the LGBTQ page lists same-sex divorce, LGBTQ adoption, second-parent adoption for non-biological parents, custody rights, and issues for couples whose relationships began before marriage was legal, such as when the "start date" of a marriage matters for dividing property.

Estate documents and probate litigation

Estate documents. The estate planning page lists the documents the firm prepares or discusses: a last will and testament, a revocable living trust, a durable power of attorney, a healthcare power of attorney and living will, and reviewing beneficiary designations. It covers naming a guardian for minor children, trusts for children, blended families, and updating a plan after divorce. The firm says its process starts with a consultation about your family and goals, followed by a plan built for your situation and an explanation of every document. It says fees for this work are discussed at the initial consultation.

Probate and estate litigation. This is litigation, not routine estate administration. The page describes disputes such as:

• Challenging a will or trust, for example when a vulnerable or elderly person signed new documents that differ sharply from earlier ones.
• Claims against an executor, trustee or agent under a power of attorney who has not accounted for assets or has transferred them to themselves.
• Recovering missing or improperly transferred assets, including deeds and bank accounts.
• Guardianship (decisions about a person's care) and conservatorship (decisions about their money) when someone can no longer manage their affairs.

The page notes deadlines under South Carolina law for some of these claims and says these cases can require medical records, medical experts or forensic accountants. It also says guardianship litigation "is expensive."

Changing or enforcing an existing order

Once a family court order is in place, either side can ask the court to change it or enforce it. The firm's page covers modifications by agreement and after changes such as job loss or relocation, and enforcement when child support or alimony goes unpaid or a custody or visitation order is violated. The custody guide notes that enforcement is usually brought as a Rule to Show Cause (a contempt action). The site says it handles both sides of these cases.

Where is it, and what areas does it serve?

The office is at 1405 Calhoun Street, Columbia, SC 29201. The site says the firm serves clients across the Columbia metropolitan area, including Richland County and Lexington County, and names Lexington, Irmo, Chapin and Blythewood. It also has pages aimed at military families at Fort Jackson. If your case is in another South Carolina county, ask the firm directly whether it takes it.

Hours: not published on the site. Call (803) 692-1072 to ask.

Virtual meetings: the site does not say whether consultations can be held by phone or video. Its intake page talks about scheduling an "in-person appointment," so ask when you call if you need a remote option.

How much does Warner Law cost?

The firm publishes one fixed price. Everything else depends on the case.

What drives the total cost. The firm's article on the cost of divorce in South Carolina explains that the biggest factor is whether the case is contested. It describes how hourly billing usually works in South Carolina family law: the client pays a retainer into a trust account and the attorney bills time against it. Costs outside attorney fees, according to the firm's pages, can include court filing fees (which vary by county), mediator fees, expert witness fees such as appraisers or forensic accountants, and guardian ad litem fees in custody cases. The article also notes that a family court judge can order one spouse to pay some or all of the other's attorney fees, and that generally each side pays its own.

If cost is your main concern, ask at the consultation what retainer the firm expects for your type of case, how often you will be billed, and what parts of the work could be handled more cheaply, such as reaching agreement before filing.

What happens when you contact the firm

The firm's Get Started page sets out its intake process in detail:

1. Fill in the online intake form. It asks for basic information about you and the other party. The page says all fields must be completed for the firm to process your potential case.
2. Conflict check. The office checks that nothing prevents it from meeting with you, for example having already spoken with the other party.
3. Full intake form by email. If there is no conflict, the firm emails a longer intake form specific to your type of case.
4. Schedule and pay. Once that form is back, the firm offers possible consultation dates and a link to pay the $500 consultation fee in advance. The firm's policy is to cancel the appointment if the form is incomplete or the fee is unpaid before the consultation date.
5. Bring your documents. If you are already in litigation, bring the relevant parts of your file, including pleadings, orders and affidavits.
6. The consultation. The firm says it will listen to the issues and your goals, give "an honest assessment" of whether those goals can or cannot be met, explain best-case and worst-case scenarios, and suggest next steps.
7. Retainer discussion. At the end, the firm discusses the initial retainer for your case.
8. Hiring the firm. If you decide to go ahead, the firm emails an engagement agreement and a retainer payment link. You are a client once the agreement is signed and the retainer is paid.

After the consultation, the firm says it is willing to answer general questions about the process. If you already have a lawyer and came for a second opinion, it says it cannot give ongoing advice on a matter where you are represented.

Policies worth knowing before you call

• No attorney-client relationship until you sign and pay. The site's disclaimer says that neither the website nor a consultation creates an attorney-client relationship. That starts only when you have signed a written engagement agreement and paid the advance deposit.
• Consultation fee up front. $500, paid before the meeting. Appointments are cancelled if the fee or intake form is not complete.
• Conflict checks first. The firm checks for conflicts before it will meet with you.
• Second opinions. Available as a consultation, but no ongoing advice if you already have counsel.
• Website content is general. The site warns readers not to assume they will get a complete or accurate answer to their legal question from the website and to consult an attorney about their specific needs.
• Refunds and cancellation of the consultation fee: not published. Ask before you pay.

How it compares with other options

Family law help in the Columbia area comes in several forms. This table compares general categories, not specific firms.

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Questions to ask at the consultation

1. Will Carrie Warner handle my case herself, and who else on the team will work on it?
2. What initial retainer do you expect for a case like mine, and what is the hourly rate?
3. How often will I be billed, and what happens when the retainer runs out?
4. Is the $500 consultation fee refundable or credited toward the retainer if I hire the firm?
5. Do you think my case is likely to settle, go to mediation, or go to trial, and what would each cost roughly?
6. Which outside costs (mediator, guardian ad litem, appraiser, forensic accountant) should I budget for?
7. How do you prefer to communicate, and how quickly do you usually reply?
8. Can meetings be held by phone or video if I can't come to the office?

How to get started

1. Read the guide page for your issue from the home page menu, and the FAQs, so you know the basic terms.
2. Gather your documents: financial records, and if a case is already open, the pleadings, orders and affidavits.
3. Complete the intake form on the Get Started page, or call (803) 692-1072.
4. Watch for the firm's email with the full intake form, then the consultation dates and the $500 payment link.

Visit Warner Law

Terms you'll see on the site

Definitions below follow the firm's own glossary and guide pages, in short form.

• Complaint / Petition: the document that starts a case in family court or probate court.
• Answer and Counterclaim: the other side's written response, which can ask for its own relief.
• Discovery: the evidence-gathering stage, with written questions (interrogatories) and requests for documents.
• Deposition: sworn live testimony taken from a party or witness before trial.
• Financial Declaration: a sworn statement of income, expenses, assets and debts for the court.
• Mediation: a required step after a contested action is filed, where a neutral third party tries to help the parties agree.
• Guardian ad Litem: a person the court appoints in a contested custody case to investigate and help the court decide the children's best interests.
• Equitable distribution: South Carolina's approach to dividing marital property fairly, which is not always equally.
• QDRO: a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, often needed to divide an employer retirement plan in divorce.
• Rule to Show Cause: a contempt action asking the court to enforce an existing order.
• Retainer: an advance payment held in a trust account that the attorney bills against.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All pages checked on 19 October 2026.

1. Warner Law, home page: carriewarner.com
2. Who We Are: carriewarner.com/who-we-are/
3. Attorney profile, Carrie A. Warner: carriewarner.com/staff-profiles/carrie-warner/
4. Get Started (intake and consultation process): carriewarner.com/get-started/
5. FAQs: carriewarner.com/faqs/
6. Glossary: carriewarner.com/glossary/
7. Practice area pages: Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Alimony, Adoptions, Prenuptial Agreements, Cohabitation Agreements, Modifications & Enforcement, LGBTQ, Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Litigation
8. Divorce sub-pages: High net worth, Military divorce, Timeline, How to file, Marital vs. separate property
9. Cost of divorce in South Carolina (firm article): carriewarner.com
10. Firm news posts: New practice launch (2015), AAML Fellow (2020), Doyle's Guide 2026, 2026 SC Legal Elite
11. American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, directory profile: aaml.org
12. Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, Bradacs v. Haley: clearinghouse.net/case/12841