Opinion ID: 2507683
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: lis pendens and attorney's fees

Text: Finally, Wife argues the family court erred in cancelling the lis pendens she filed on Husband's rental properties and not awarding her attorney's fees. In light of our conclusion that she has failed to state a claim, we disagree. A lis pendens essentially is another form of a pleading in a case. Pond Place Partners, Inc. v. Poole, 351 S.C. 1, 30, 567 S.E.2d 881, 896 (Ct.App.2002). It is premised upon and must be filed in time [and] in conjunction with an underlying complaint involving an issue of property. Id. A lis pendens must be filed not more than twenty days before the filing of the complaint or at any time afterwards. S.C.Code Ann. § 15-11-10 (2005). It is therefore a derivative right, and its validity depends not only on the timeliness of its filing in relation to the underlying complaint, but on the validity of the complaint as well. Because we find Wife's complaint fails to state a claim, there is no valid complaint on which Wife's lis pendens can be premised. Accordingly, the family court did not err in cancelling it. In considering whether to award a party attorney's fees, the court must consider the party's ability to pay his own fees, the beneficial results obtained by the party's attorney, each party's respective financial conditions, and the effect of the fee on each party's standard of living. E.D.M. v. T.A.M., 307 S.C. 471, 476-77, 415 S.E.2d 812, 816 (1992). Given our affirmance of the family court's dismissal of Wife's complaint, she did not achieve any beneficial results. We therefore affirm the court's denial of attorney's fees to Wife.